( STEPHANIE PHẠM )

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⁀➷｡˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ ༄

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*"𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐒𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓?" piper yelled out as she shook stephanie's unconscious body, the asian girl hadn't moved a muscle and all hope was beginning to die down. "i'm waiting for you!" she whispered as tears just pooled from her eyes.

"wake up! wake up! wake up!" she yelled, the girls unconscious body being cradled by the daughter of aphrodite, leo and thalia pacing around them in a circle nervously.

"nothing you do will bring the girl back" hera's voice cut through the tension, jason still processing what was going on as he sat up besides her. the son of lightning not yet aware that stephanie pham was gone.

"you can do something, you're the queen for heavens sake!" piper sobbed as she pulled the girl closer to her, stephanie's body now cold from the lack of blood.

"no one can bring people back from the dead" hera muttered, the woman's patience was thin with the children before her but that didn't mean she didn't feel the tiniest bit of guilt for the girls death.

jasons hand latched onto stephanie's wrist from where he sat, the situation now clear to him, stephanie pham was dead. his steph was dead and not coming back like he was able to. his girl was gone and he hadn't said goodbye.

"shit steph" the boy choked out as he pulled the girls body into his lap and out of pipers arm, the girl being on the verge of attacking hera and making the goddess wish they'd never saved her.

curses leaving the boys lips as his dirty dust covered hands made their way to her pale cheeks, her freckles being ever more prominent now that her skin was the colour of snow. someone would've made a joke saying how she looked so similar to the day at the cliff but this was no laughing matter because stephanie pham was dead and not coming back.

"𝐬𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫" stephanie muttered as she stared at herself in the cabin mirror, an orange camp half-blood shirt adorned her upper half and a pair of denim shorts on her lower, she borrowed black mascara and eyeliner from lou and hadn't said another word to the girl afterwards.

she glanced at the black leather jacket on the bed which she had removed from her body the instant she stepped into the cabin and made a quick decision to grab it before leaving the cabin to find jason and the others.

the girl hadn't expected to see a large dragon flying over the cabins with a small latino boy on top, the gasp that left her lips was involuntary but her amazement was too much to hold in, her legs dragged her forward till she was close enough to yell to leo

 a conch horn blew. all the satyrs started screaming, "don't kill me!" half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pyjamas and armor. the dragon set down right in the middle of the green, and leo yelled, "it's cool! don't shoot!"

hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. the warriors backed away, keeping their spears and swords ready. they made a loose wide ring around the metal monster. other demigods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. nobody seemed anxious to get close.

the dragon was huge. it glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture -different shades of copper and bronze-a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. it had bat-shaped wings twice its length that unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped.

"it's beautiful" "you're insane" piper and stephanie let out at the same time, but both their eyes held the same bewilderment for the creature. two peas in the same pod more similar than they realise.

leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. he held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face. "people of earth, i come in peace!" he shouted. he looked like he'd been rolling around in the campfire. his army coat and his face were smeared with soot. his hands were grease-stained, and he wore a new tool belt around his waist. 

his eyes were bloodshot . his curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills, and he smelled strangely of tabasco sauce. but he looked absolutely delighted. "festus is just saying hello!"

"festus" stephanie muttered to herself with a small chuckle at the boys choice of name

"that thing is dangerous!" an ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "kill it now!"

"stand down" someone ordered, it was Jason. he pushed through the crowd, flanked by annabeth and that girl from the hephaestus cabin, nyssa.

jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "leo, what have you done?"

"found a ride!" leo beamed. "you said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. well, I got you a class-a metallic flying bad boy! festus can take us anywhere!"

"it-has wings," nyssa stammered. her jaw looked like it might drop off her face.

"yeah!" leo said. "i found them and reattached them." the boys tone making stephanie question him

"but it never had wings. where did you find them?" leo hesitated, and stephanie could tell he was hiding something.

"in the woods," he said. "repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire." stephanie was an a-class liar and she knew when someone was lying, and leo was lying.

"mostly?" nyssa asked.

the dragon's head twitched. it tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid-maybe oil, hopefully just oil-poured out of its ear, all over leo.

"just a few kinks to work out," leo said.

"but how did you survive?" nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "i mean, the fire breath"

"i'm quick," leo said. "and lucky. now, am I on this quest, or what?"

jason scratched his head glancing around "you named him festus? you know that in latin, 'festus' means 'happy'? you want us to ride off to save the world on happy the dragon?" the dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.

"that's a yes, bro!" leo said. "now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. i already picked up some supplies in the-um, in the woods. and all these people with weapons are making festus nervous."

jason frowned. "but we haven't planned anything yet. we can't just-"

"we didn't necessarily plan to come here either" stephanie cut the boy off with a shrug as she stroked the dragons head.

"go," annabeth said. she was the only one who didn't look nervous at all besides stephanie. her expression was sad and wistful, like this reminded her of better times. "jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. this is certainly a good omen. go!"

jason nodded. then he smiled at piper. "you ready, partner?"

piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky, and those talons that could've shredded her to pieces "you bet," she said.

jason then turnt to stephanie who looked infatuated with the large creature, placing a hand on her shoulder "what about you?"

"never am ready, but what can i do?" she muttered only loud enough for the boy to hear, she'd come to camp with these three and she guessed she was leaving it with them.

𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬. up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon's metal hide generated so much heat, it was like they were flying in a protective bubble. the grooves in the dragon's back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't uncomfortable at all. leo showed them how to hook their feet in the chinks of the armor, like in stirrups, and use the leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating.

they sat single file: leo in front, then piper, then stephanie and then jason, stephanie was extremely aware of jason right behind her and wished for nothing more than to lean into the boys warmth due to her fear of falling but wouldn't allow herself to act so vulnerably.

leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. the metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line behind them. they shot over connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds.

"steph, you alright?" leo called out from the front not taking his eyes off the sky in front of them. the boy remembered how the canyon affected her and considering they were now higher than ever he doubted she'd be coping well.

piper contemplated on turning to look at the girl but went against it considering jason wad sitting right behind the ravenette and she'd only become jealous from their proximity.

"might pass out in a second to be honest" she said loud enough for the boy to hear, her hand finding the back of her neck to nervously run her nails along her neck. she'd been doing it the whole time they were in the air and the marks were beginning to show.

jason only stared as she continued and frowned to himself deeply.

"what if we get spotted?" piper spoke up.

"the mist," jason said. "it keeps mortals from seeing magic things. if they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."

piper finally glanced over her shoulder getting a glimpse of a pale stephanie and a calm jason "you sure about that?"

"no," the boy admitted. then piper saw he was clutching a photo in his hand-a picture of a girl with dark hair.

she gave jason a quizzical look over stephanie's shoulder, but he blushed and put the photo in his pocket. "we're making good time. probably get there by tonight."

"where are we headed again?" stephanie asked trying to distract herself from the fact that if she fell right now she'd splat and die.

"to find the god of the north wind," jason said. "and chase some storm spirits."

𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐭 dripping down her neck, the girl brushing her fingers against her neck and feeling a small cut made. she had scratched so hard she'd cut herself open. however the nerves still didn't disappear.

jason watched the small drops of blood fall from her neck onto the black leather jacket and didn't think as he lifted his hand to wipe the small drops off her neck, his cold hand sending a shiver through her spine.

the boy leant forward as he kept his mouth a small distance from her ears "be more careful" she sensed something other than concern in his tone and furrowed her eyebrows before placing her hand on her neck trying to soothe the stinging.

jason only watched her actions intently before shaking his head like a disappointed parent.

"shut up, me," leo said aloud startling the teenagers behind.

"what?" piper asked.

"nothing," he said. "long night. i think I'm hallucinating. It's cool."

sitting in front, leo couldn't see their faces, but he assumed from their silence that his friends were not pleased to have a sleepless, hallucinating dragon driver.

"just joking." leo decided it might be good to change the subject. "so what's the plan, bro? you said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"

as they flew over new england, jason laid out the game plan: first, find some guy named boreas and grill him for information-

"his name is Boreas?" leo had to ask. "what is he, the god of boring?" stephanie rolled her eyes at the boys lame joke.

second, jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked them at the grand canyon-

"can we just call them storm spirits?" leo asked. "venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks."

and third, jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could find hera and free her.

"so you want to look for dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose," leo said. "the guy who threw me off the skywalk, nearly killed stephanie and sucked coach hedge into the clouds."

"that's about it," jason said. "well there may be a wolf involved, too. but I think she's friendly. she probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."

jason told them about his dream-the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool. jason was a boy stephanie didn't think she should be around for too long.

"uh-huh," leo said. "but you don't know where this place is."

"nope," jason admitted.

"there's also giants," piper added. "the prophecy said the giants' revenge."

"if you guys had told me this was going to be a suicide mission i would've stayed at the camp" stephanie spoke up, her annoyed attitude doing well at covering the real nerves she felt.

"hold on," leo said. "giants-like more than one? why can't it be just one giant who wants revenge?"

"i don't think so," piper said. "i remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants."

"great," leo muttered. "of course, with our luck, it's an army. so you know anything else about these giants? didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"

"your dad's an actor?" jason asked, stephanie's interest now peaked

leo laughed. "i keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. forgetting about amnesia. that's funny. but yeah, her dad's tristan mclean."

"your dad is tristan mclean?" "uh-sorry, what was he in?" stephanie and jason let out at the same time, stephanie looking proud but also amused.

"it doesn't matter," piper said quickly. "the giants-well, there were lots of giants in greek mythology. but if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. huge, almost impossible to kill. they could throw mountains and stuff. t think they were related to the titans. they rose from the earth after kronos lost the war-i mean the first titan war, thousands of years ago-and they tried to destroy olympus. if we're talking about the same giants-"

"chiron said it was happening again," jason remembered. "the last chapter. that's what he meant. no wonder he didn't want us to know all the details."

leo whistled. "so giants who can throw mountains. friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. evil espresso drinks. gotcha. maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"you're joking right?" stephanie asked amused, but she knew the boy was telling the truth. people had ways to hide their trauma and leo valdez used humour.

leo told them about tia callida, who was really hera, and how she'd appeared to him at camp. he did manage to tell about the night his mother died, not mentioning the fire, just saying the machine shop collapsed. it was easier without having to look at his friends, just keeping his eyes straight ahead as they flew.

and he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and seemed to know the future. leo estimated the whole state of massachusetts passed below them before his friends spoke.

"scary" stephanie muttered lowly, her pity for the small boy growing but deciding to not speak up on it.

"'bout sums it up," leo agreed. "thing is, everybody says don't trust hera. she hates demigods. and the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. so I'm wondering why are we doing this?"

"she chose us," jason said. "all four of us. we're the first of the eight who have to gather for the great prophecy. this quest is the beginning of something much bigger."

stephanie didn't think she wanted to know what the bigger picture was, she was still coming to terms with the fact her brother wasn't dead, her mother was a goddess, she was a demi-god and that she had like hundreds of half siblings. instinctively her hands went back to her neck and she began scratching.

"besides," jason continued as he focused on stephanie's hand, "helping hera is the only way I can get back my memory. and that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on hera's energy. if that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying hera-"

the boys hand shooting for stephanie's, his fingers linking with hers as he pulled her hand down so it was just swinging with his besides her body. her whole body tensed as she was well aware that jason was holding her hand but she didn't make a move to remove her own.

"not a good trade-off," piper agreed. "at least Hera is on our side-mostly . losing her would throw the gods into chaos. she's the main one who keeps peace in the family. and a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the titan war."

jason nodded. "chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all-something that could awaken if hera were sacrificed on that day. and this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods-"

"might be that weird sleeping lady," leo finished. "dirt woman fully awake? not something I want to see."

"but who is she?" jason asked. "and what does she have to do with giants?" his thumb beginning to rub circles on the side of stephanie's hand. any other day and she would've slapped his hand away but the comfort he was providing was too nice to resist.

they sat in a silence. festus kept flying. the wind got colder, and below them snowy forests seemed to go on forever. "why don't you get some sleep?" piper said in his ear. "you were up all night." leo wanted to protest, but the word sleep sounded really good. 

"you won't let me fall off?" piper patted his shoulder. "trust me, valdez. beautiful people never lie."

"right," he muttered. he leaned forward against the warm bronze of the dragon's neck, and closed his eyes.