~•♡•~

festus halted mid-air and got ready to spew fire. his wings beat and his sword-like talons were bared, ready to intercept anyone who might hurt us.

"steady, boy." leo warned under his breath.

i stared at the ugly creatures, and it was at that moment that a thought i should havw had hours ago finally hit me.

i didn't have a weapon. at all.

"i don't like this." jason said. "they look like storm spirits."

"no. they're a lot more solid." i said.

"you can see that far?!" leo asked as the creatures flew closer.

"you can't?!"

as they got closer, everyone began to see what i was seeing; two teenagers, aside from icy white hair and feathery purple wings. they held jagged bronze swords like icicles. clearly, they were brother, but not twins.

one was the size of an ox, for starters, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and cleats. evidently, his size was useless. he had been in a great many fighrs, as he was missing several eyes and both eyes were black and swolen.

the other looked like a loser desperately trying to fit in in 1981. he had a mullet, wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer pants that didn't leave much up to the imagination, and a silk shirt with the top three buttons open as though that was something girls wanted to see. he had horrendous acne, and looked so bone-thin and small, even i could have thrown him.

the ox angel grunted. "no clearance."

"'scuse me?" leo said.

"eh?" i questioned in confusion.

"you have no flight on file." the twig said. he had a french accent so bad, i felt myself literally trying to shrink away. "this is restricted airspace."

"destroy them?" the ox gleamed.

festus began to steam, and i heard jason's sword summon. a rush of fear pummeled through me, but leo cried, "hold on!"

"let's all take this slow." i said calmly. "can we please have the honor of knowing who is destroying us?"

"I AM CAL!" the hockey mongrel announced. he was very, very proud of that.

"that's short for calais." he twig said. cal is a much better name, but i wasn't going to say that. "sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables-"

"pizza! hockey! destroy!"

"-which includes his own name." the twig finished.

"i am cal." cal repeated. "and this is zethes! my brother!"

zethes sounded like a new fungal cream, but i also kept this to myself.

"wow!" leo mused. "that was almost three sentences! way to go!"

cal looked pleased, and i was very glad he did not see through leo's sarcasm.

zethes did, however.

"stupid buffoon." he grumbled. "they make fun of you. but no matter. i am zethes, which is short for zethes. and these ladies here," he winked at piper and i, but it looked more like a tweaker. "they can call me anything they like. perhaps they would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?"

piper made a horrendous sound. "that's... a truly horrifying offer."

"leo, help." i whispered.

"it is no problem." zethes wiggled his eyebrows. "we are very romantic people, we boreads."

"boreads?" jason to save the day! "like, the sons of boreas?"

"so you've heard of us!" zethes grinned. "we are our father's gatekeepers. so you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples."

i looked down with leo. sure enough, people were beginning to take notice. clearly, they did not see the dragon. they looked more annoyed than anything.

"which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing, we will have to destroy you painfully."

"DESTROY!" cal agreed.

"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" i cried as i frantically waved my hands.

"this is an emergency landing!" piper said.

"awww!" cal looked too disappointed for my liking.

zethes stared at piper. "how does this pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?"

"we have to see boreas. it's totally urgent! please?" she forced a smile that did not match the disgust she was giving off, but the blessing of aphrodite masked it perfectly. however, her voice was working so well, even jason and leo were nodding as if she had completely whipped them.

zethes picked at his atrocious shirt, probably trying to make sure his hideous torso was wide open enough. "well... i hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you-"

"the dragon is breaking." i piped up. leo looked so scared until he realized i was lying. "we could blow up any minute!"

festus shuddered after leo tapped his neck. more gunk spilled from his ear, pitifully landing on a black mercedes below.

"no destroy?" cal whimpered.

zethes gave me another tweaker-wink. "well, you girls are pretty. i mean, you're right."

did i feel jealousy from leo?

"a malfunctioning dragon, this could be an emergency." zethes huffed.

"destroy them later?" i believe that was as friendly as cal got.

"it will take some explaining." zethes said. "father has not taken kindly to visitors lately. but yes. come faulty dragon people. follow us."

zethes and cal sheathed their swords, and pulled out orange cone lights to guide as away. zethes and cal swooped towards the tower, and piper sighed.

leo turned to us. "i don't like these guys at all. should we still follow them?"

"we have to talk to boreas." i sighed.

"we're already here." jason said. "but, i wonder why boreas hasn't been kind to visitors."

"if we get blown up, i blame leo." i nodded.

"why me?!"

"jason has amnesia, and i like piper more."

leo rolled his eyes. "fine. festus, after those flashlights!"

~•♡•~

i tried to control my shivering once we slid off festus. the icy floor crunched under mine and leo's feet. vaulted ceilings that were forty feet high made me feel tiny, and scares- massive icicles dangled from them. a staircase led to an equally massive hall, with more corridors branching left and right. the massive draped windows would have been beautiful if the ice hadn't looked like it could impale me with little to no trouble. the ice let in a weird, refracted version of the sunset.

"guys," leo said. "fix the thermostat in here, and i would totally move in."

"not me." jason said. "something feels wrong. something up there..."

festus shuttered and spew flames, which warmed me slightly. frost began forming in his scales, a sure sign of how cold it was in here.

i wouldn't last much longer without getting frostbite.

"no, no, no." zethes marched over. i wasn't sure how his pointy shoes hadn't cut off his circulation. "the dragon must be deactivated. we can't have fire in here. the heat ruins my hair."

not even aphrodite could fix that hair, and i had to turn away before i said that.

festus spun his drill-bit teeth and i smiled.

"'s'okay, boy." leo said. "the dragon's a little touchy about the deactivation thing. but i've got a better solution."

i knew what he was talking about, and i smiled as he began walking to the dragon.

"destroy?" cal suggested.

i whipped my head to him. "maybe a little less destroy, dude. just wait."

"leo?" piper said nervously. "what are you-"

"watch and learn, beauty queen. when we were repairing festus last night, we found all kinds of buttons!"

"um, i didn't do much..."

"some, you do not want to know what they do." leo said as he glared at me. "but others... ah, here we go."

leo pulled the switch, making festus shudder throughout his whole body. everyone backed away as festus folded up like origami. his bronze plating layered together, and his neck and tail contracted until he was a rectangular slab about the size of a suitcase.

leo tried to lift it, but only embarassed himself because if weighed more than an eighteen-wheeler. "um, yeah... hold on. i think- Aha!"

he pushed another button, which made wheels and a handle pop up.

"ta-da!" he announced. "the worlds heaviest carry-on bag!"

"that's impossible." jason spluttered. "something that big-"

"hey man, don't question the dragon." i cut him off.

"STOP!" zethes bellowed. he and cal drew their swords and glared at leo.

i hopped in front of leo. "let's just take it easy, guys."

"who are you?" zethes asked leo. "a child of the south wind, spying on us?"

"what? no!" leo said nervously. "son of hephaestus. friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"

cal tried to move around me to get to leo, but i moved in front of him. cal was about five times my size, but i wasn't about to sit idly by as he destroyed my friend.

"smell fire." cal said. "fire is bad."

leo's panic was strong enough for me to feel panicky as well. "oh, yeah, well... my clothes are kind of singed, and i've been working with oil, and-"

"no!" zethes tried to jab his sword at leo, but i placed my hand in front of it, which made him stop. "we can smell fire, demigod. we assumed it was from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase."

zethes looked at me and frowned. "and then we thought it might be her," he said. "because of her lineage. we can smell the faint blood of a sun titan, but it isn't her either. so the fire,"

he turned back to leo and glared.

"is on you."

i would've been sweating if it wasn't -70° in the room. "hey... look..."

"it's just because of me." i offered. "like you said, blood of a sun titan. you just smell it on leo because we've been close together for a while now."

zethes stared at me. "a half-titan?"

"selene, not helios." i explained.

"selene? but... she faded millenia ago!"

"yeah, well, she visited me in my dream earlier, so she ain't all gone." i sighed. "the point is... leave leo alone." i defendes as i kept my arms spread in front of leo. "i'm the fire. not him."

"zethes?" piper brought in her dazzling smile again. "we're all friends here. put your swords down, and let's talk."

"the girls are pretty." zethes admitted. "and of course, they cannot help being attracted to my amazingness."

i was more likely to make out with a birch tree before i called zethes cool in any capacity.

"but sadly, i cannot romance them at this time." zethes looked at me. "please move your hand. i wish to poke your little friend."

that sounded wrong on many levels.

"no." i shook my head as i backed closer to leo until my hair touched his nose. "no, i won't let you hurt him."

zethes frowned. "why defend this weird mongrel? i am much, much more amazing."

"destroy him now?" cal asked.

zethes nodded. "sadly, i think-"

"no." jason finally joined the arguement. "leo's just a son of hephaestus; aruna a daughter of selene. piper is a daughter of aprhodite, and i'm the son of zeus. we're on a peaceful..."

both boreads turned to jason, and i was pleased to get the heat off me (no pun intended).

"what did you say?" zethes demanded. "a son of zeus?"

"um, yeah. good thing, right? my name is jason..." jason trailed off.

cal nearly dropped his sword in shock. "can't be jason. doesn't look the same."

zethes walked to jason, and squinted. "no, he is not our jason. our jason was more stylish. not as much as me- but stylish. besides, our jason died millenia ago."

"wait." jason said. "your jason... you mean the original jason? the golden fleece guy?"

"of course." zethes said this like it was common knowledge. "we were his crewmates aboard his ship, the argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so i could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy hockey and pizza."

"hockey!" cal said very helpfully.

"but jason- our jason- he died a mortal death." zethes said. "you can't be him."

"i'm not." jason nodded.

"so, destroy?" cal asked.

"no." zethes also sounded disappointed and i breathed in relief as i let my hands drop. "if he is a son of zeus, he could be the one we've bewn watching for."

"watching for?" leo had finally seemed to calm down enough to talk. "you mean like in a good way; you'll shower him with fabulous prizes? or watching for in a bad way; like he's in trouble?"

"that depends on my father's will."

everyone turned to look at the new, feminine voice. at the top of the staircase, a girl stood in a silk white dress. her skin was even more pale than mine, her hair a richer black than anyone's i've ever seen. her eyes were coffee brown, but she glared at me so coldly, i shivered.

she cast her glare to jason and piper.

"father will want to see the one called jason."

"then it is him?" zethes asked.

"we'll see." the girl said. "zethes, bring our guests."

we all made our way to the staircase, when the girl spun and glared at me.

"not you, aruna mercedes rodrigo."

i felt very uncomfortable because she knew my full name.

"and not you, leo valdez."

no fair! why was my full name used and not his?

"why not?" i asked.

"fire and ice- it would not be wise." she said.

"wha- i'm not even full fire!"

the girl glared and i glared back.

"we're going together." jason said. "or not at all."

the girl tilted her head, startled that we had dared challenge her. "they will not be harmed, jason grace, unless you make trouble."

ah, this will be fine. leo's the troublemaker.

"calais, keep leo valdez and aruna rodrigo here. guard them, but do not kill them."

cal pouted. "just a little?"

"no." the girl insisted. "and take care of his interesting suitcase until father passed judgement."

we all looked at each other. i was ready to fight over this if need be, but i looked at leo and he just nodded at me.

i looked at piper.

we'll be okay.

"no sense causing trouble if we don't have to." leo said. "you go ahead. besides, aru and i can just hang out!"

"listen to your friend." the pale girl said. "leo valdez and aruna rodrigo will be perfectly safe. i wish i could say the same for you, son of zeus."

that was a happy note to leave us on. the girl walked up the stairs with jason, piper, and zethes.

~•♡•~

cal was actually a lot nicer than i gave him credit for. he had helped us get nice and clean, which was exactly the pick-me-up i needed. now, my black jeans were able to move without creaking due to oil, grease, and 1860s dust. my camp shirt was soft, hidden under my silver cloak. my skin was flawless and my hair was able to move again.

leo got clean too. he no longer reeked of tabasco oil, boy funk, grease, and another motley of nasty things. his curls looked soft again, not pointed, jagged, and rigid. his face and hands were clean of grime and soot, making his warm tone finally evident again. his clothes looked like they had just been bought, and now, we both smelled amazing.

"thank you, cal." i smiled. it was actually sincere.

cal nodded. he didn't say anything, probably because it was too much effort.

i stood next to leo, who sat on the festus luggage. he had his head resting in his palm as he looked out.

"thanks."

i looked down at him. "for?"

he shrugged. "everything. helping out last night, defending me." leo cut himself off, but i knew what else he had to say.

for keeping secrets.

i shrugged awkwardly and looked away as i shoved my hands in my jean pockets. "we're buddies. we protect each other."

"you could have been turned into an icicle."

"meh, it would've been fine." i looked at leo and winked to say, you would've thawed me.

he smiled and looked away again.

more silence passed until i started shivering slightly.

"cold?"

"nope." i said, but my hands were in so much pain, i was pretty sure the frostbite had started.

"you're blue."

"blue is in now, yeah?" i shivered as my legs trembled.

"quit being stupid." leo stood up and walked over to me before extending his hands.

i looked at them blankly.

"nice callouses?"

"aru." leo groaned. i smiled and placed my own hands in them, shocked that they were a gnarly shade of purple, blue, and red- clearly frostbitten.

instantly, leo's hands warmed me up. he didn't spawn any fire, especially not in the presence of a boread (who probably wouldn't be able to comprehend it), but he managed to warm his hands up enough that my pain melted away.

i smiled and looked away, somewhat embarassed. leo looked to the other side, but i was too engulfed in my own emotions to pay much attention to his.

after my whole body was toasty, i pulled away and gave leo an awkward thanks. he nodded without a word, and we went on doing our own things.

meaning he brought festus back out, and cal gave me a canadian soda.

"called 'pop'." cal said to me as i sipped it. "'cause it goes pop! in your mouth!"

i smiled at cal. "yeah, it does!" this was not a lie. i think quebec canadians (quebecians?) added either pop rocks or crack cocaine to their sodas. either way, it was wonderful.

a few minutes later, piper, jason, and the mean pale girl climbed down the stairs. festus was snorting fire over his scale to keep himself defrosted, and i approached piper nervously.

"all good?" i muttered. she nodded, but i could very clearly see that we would be going into that later.

man, pipes and i were gonna need an entire week to gossip.

"you have fooled my father, girl." the pale chick said to piper. "but you have not fooled me. we are not done."

then, she turned to me.

"i have my suspisions about you, aruna rodrigo." she spat. "you may have thrown my brothers off course, but not me."

"talk to me when your skin isn't translucent."

she huffed and looked away. "and you, jason grace, i will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough."

i stared at jason wildly, but he only managed a smirk at the girl.

"boreas is right. you're a spoiled kid. see you around, ice princess."

my jaw went slack as i stared at jason. the ice princess's eyes went pure white, her mouth agape in a loss of words. then, she turned into a blizzard and 'stormed' away.

"be careful." zethes warned. "she never forgets an insult."

cal nodded. "bad sister."

"she's the goddess of snow. what's she going to do? throw snowballs at us?"

i had a feeling she could do more than that.

"what happened up there? you made her mad? why is she mad at aru too? she can't be mean to my prom date!" leo said as he waved a hand at me. i saw zethes scowl.

"dude, we don't go to high school anymore."

"fine. homecoming date."

"no, that's not-"

"we'll talk later." piper cut me off. she looked at jason, however, as though he would be doing the talking.

"yeah." jason gulped. "we'll explain later."

"be careful, pretty girls." zethes said. "the winds between here and chicago are bad-tempered."

why chicago? i hate chicago.

"many other evil things are stirring. i am sorry you will not be staying." zethes said. he turned to me, and i stepped back.

"you would make a very shiny, lovely ice statue, which i could check my reflection in." he said.

"thanks... but i think i'll settle for hockey with cal." i said.

"hockey?" cal piped up.

"next time." i said to him. he smiled and nodded.

"the storm winds aren't our worst problem, are they?" piper asked.

"oh, no. something else. something worse." zethes said.

"worse." cal nodded.

"can you tell me?" piper shot another smile.

however, the boreads shook their heads in unison. the hangar doors opened to the starry night, and festus stomped, eager to fly.

"ask aeolus what is worse." zethes said, his tone erie. "he knows. good luck."

he actually sounded worried for us.

cal patted leo and i on the shoulder, which made both our bodies nearly crumple from the force. "don't get destroyed." he said. "next time- hockey. pizza."

"sure thing, buddy." i smiled. cal tried for a smile before walking away with his brother.

"come on, guys." jason said. "let's go to chicago and try not to get destroyed."

we all walked over to festus, piling in our usual order- leo first, who pulled me up, then i pulled piper up, and jason did it on his own as piper situated herself.

"all ready?" leo bellowed in a bad pirate accent.

"aye, aye!" we all cheered.

"off we go!"

~•♡•~

after jason and piper did the explaining, leo and i told them to go to sleep, as we'd had our turn during the day. piper slumped forward, her weight on my back, which i didn't mind at all because she had let me sleep on her.

this left leo and i alone to talk.

"can they hear us?" he asked, his voice lower than usual.

"no." i replied. "they're out completely."

leo sighed. "good. i didn't expect the boreads to smell fire."

i nodded. "i didn't either. but, they believed the titan blood thing."

"yeah, what's up with that?"

i huffed. "well... i'm not sure. they didn't know jason was a big three child until he said something... but they could smell a sun titan on me. and he isn't even my dad! he's technically my uncle."

"is titan blood more powerful?" leo asked.

"i don't think it's about power." i said. "the titans got weaker and weaker as the olympians took power, as they were worshipped less. plus, from what i remember, my mom wasn't one of the 12 main titans. she was similar to a 'minor' god."

"since when do you know so much?" leo said dryly. i bit my lip, and looked down at the few clouds we passed.

"aru?"

i knew i shouldn't hide this from him, so with a heavy sigh, i finally looked at him as he turned to face me.

"my mom talked to me. in my dream."

"o-oh."

silence.

"do you... want to talk about it?"

i winced. i hadn't exactly talked about my feelings since my last therapy session when i was thirteen, so forgive me for being a bit rusty on it.

"um... so i won't go into detail because... because." i said awkwardly as i breathed heavily.

"okay."

"but, some stuff happened to me as a kid, and long story short, dad killed my grandpa, dad killed himself, and grandma abused me." i spat out.

"that's..."

"well, selene visited me." i said hurriedly so we didn't have to dwell on it much. "she said she was only just about to do it because she still dwells in the ancient lands, and it was night there, and this was the first time i had slept deeply enough for her to make contact."

"huh?"

"i think- okay. chiron said everyone thought she faded away after artemis took over as a lunar goddess." i said. "well, i don't think she faded... she just got weaker. she said one of her powers was a hold over dreams. when she raised every night, mortals thanked her for a slumber period, and that gave her power."

"wait, you say that like she is the moon." leo said.

"she is." i nodded. "and helios is the sun. artemis and apollo are not the actual sun and moon; just the deities in control."

"that makes no sense."

"nothing does." i sighed. "but... she said she had always been watching me. and, well. i got mad. i was so mad, 'cause... why did she let all that happen to me? y'know?"

"understandable."

"and then she just looked away and told me to wake up." i grunted.

"oh. that's why you had tears on your cheeks?"

"you guys saw that?!"

"only me. pipes and jason didn't notice." leo said before quickly turning away. "it may or may not have been because i wiped them away."

i smiled and did not blush. i am the seldom type to blush.

"thanks... thanks a lot." i smiled.

leo shrugged. "'s nothing."

i looked away. "sorry if i'm weird about this."

"hm?"

"i'm not used to the 'friends' thing." i explained. "or, at least the beginning stage. i swear, i was so awkward when piper and i first met."

"how did it last?"

"she was pushy and insisted on being my friend."

"perfect!" leo beamed back at me. he pointed a thumb at his chest. "i'm pushy too!"

"you don't say." i deadpanned.

"besides, i have a stronger goal."

"which is?"

"make you fall in love with me!"

i snorted. "oh, puh-lease. you should have gotten that done before i met zethes."

"true. i will never be able to compete with those shoes. ALSO, DID YOU SEE HIS DIC-"

festus jerked sideways all of a sudden. jason awoke with a gasp just as the dragon's wings faltered, and everyone fell off.

~•♡•~