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𝐈'𝐌 𝐓𝐎𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐆

AFTER WHAT FELT LIKE HOUR-LONG MINUTES THE SCREENS DARKENED. 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 its centre, popped off a drain cover, and disappeared underground.

''Did they just go down a drain?'' Piper asked. ''How are we supposed to follow 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?''

''I'm pretty aware of it.''

''That's not what that word means, Charlie.''

Jason was staring at the drain cover as it span around before a gust of wind hit it, unbalancing it and causing it to finally fall down, as though it had never been lifted in the first place. But, they had to follow. It was their only way forwards. They had to find Hera, and now they only had two days until the solstice.

''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 Charlie remembered how nice of a place it was during the summer. Currently, however, 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 bitter cold. Anyone with sense would be inside. Charlie's eyes stung so badly, she could barely see.

They dismounted, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet. One of his ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like he was blinking.

''Is that normal?'' Jason asked.

Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool belt. 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 specialised?'' He guessed, mumbling to himself. ''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 held the whistle to his left, waiting. Charlie leaned forward to blow it as loudly as she could, her cheeks and ears going red from the amount of oxygen leaving. Leo pulled the whistle back, putting it around his neck as Piper and Jason rubbed their ears. ''You hear that, come find us, 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 forwards and winced. ''Ah!''

''Your ankle?'' Jason felt bad he'd forgotten about her injury back in the Cyclops factory. ''That nectar we gave you might be wearing off.''

''It's fine.'' She shivered, and took a few steps with a light limp.

Charlie leaned back on her leg, surveying the three. Sighing, she realised she was going to regret this, but it was either this or walk around and be seen with them. And, well, they weren't exactly, er, they were pretty scruffy, let's leave it at that.

''Let's get out of the wind.''

''Down a drain? Cozy.''

Jason, despite being knocked out for a long time, looked like he hadn't slept in ages, his hair was a mess and his clothes were disheveled. Piper's hair was also a mess, her clothes torn and her ankle the size of a tennis ball. And Leo — well, Charlie didn't think she'd ever seen him clean, per say, but definitely cleaner. He was covered in grime and oil again.

''Actually,'' Charlie said, closing her eyes to fight away any regret — she hadn't even done it yet. ''Why don't you all take a break. I'm aware of the timeline, but you're not going to be much use to Hera when you're exhausted. Besides — you're starting to smell.''

''And where would you suggest we go instead?'' Leo asked, amused as he waited for an answer.

''I know a place,'' she said, a deadpan expression except for her eyebrows which raised and fell.

Jason dragged a hand down his face. ''Oh, I'm going to regret this.''

''Great! This way, people!''

The streets of Chicago weren't crowded, but they were long and Charlie led them down twisty paths, often having to go sideways in order to fit between two houses — 'it's a shortcut, curls' — but she seemed to know where she was going, so they followed her.

Her eyes scanned the rooftops. She had to pick a place she could trust and explain the situation to, as well as one that was relatively close to a sewer opening. Taking notice of the chimneys, she kept her eye out for a red mark. Fortunately, she found green instead and a grin broke out on her face.

''Here we are!''

They house itself was rather squished and lent sideways, two of the windows boarded up, but it was an upgrade.

''Ah ha, and what is 'here'?''

Charlie turned around slowly, her face void of any expression. ''If I told you that, I'd have to kill you.'' She watched their reactions, their eyes widen and mouths gape, before smiling brightly. ''Anyway!'' She brought her hand up to knock on the door before Jason could get his protest out.

Almost instantly, the door swung open and Leo's life flashed before his eyes. The first thing the three noticed, was the gleam of a butcher's knife, and then the towering figure that went with it, the light from inside the house casting a heavy shadow on their face, whilst making them look like they were glowing too.

The first thing Charlie noticed, however, was the face of an old friend, someone from a distant memory. ''Potter?'' Charlie hoped no one would make a Harry Potter reference, fortunately, they were all preoccupied with being scared.

''The one and only,'' she grinned, leaning forward as she tugged on the front of her jacket, grinning up at him.

The figure leaned backwards, his hand moving to his chest, slamming his palm and the blade of the handle against his chest as he let out a hearty laugh. ''I knew you'd make it!'' He looked behind her, glancing at her friends before nodding to himself.

He moved away from the door frame, and they heard the clutter of the knife as he placed it on some sort of surface. Charlie bounded in after him, but the others had some concerns.

Leo shrugged at Piper and Jason, waiting for them to follow after her. He wasn't allowed to wait for long, as Charlie came back out the house, grabbed his wrist just as he was gesturing towards the door, and heaved him up the stairs and into the house. ''What, have you all turned to icicles? Hurry up and get in! You're letting all the heat out.''

Jason and Piper followed, making sure to close the door behind them. Charlie was right, though. Despite the slanted walls and mold in the corners of the ceiling, the place was a lot nicer than what they had planned. A lot warmer too.

''Uh, thank you for letting us in, Sir,'' Jason said, smiling stifly as he nodded at the man. He glanced at them, but didn't say anything else.

''He isn't much of a talker.'' Charlie had lent over to him, whispering loudly.

''Who is he, anyway?'' Piper asked, keeping her voice down in hope to not offend him.

Charlie smiled slightly, but it wasn't as big and goofy as they were expecting. ''A friend of my mothers.'' She glanced over at him. ''It's been a lifetime since I last saw him.''

The three thought it was best not to ask anything else.

He turned around suddenly, absent-mindedly placing his hands on the table and drumming a beat as he waited for them to speak. The uneven beat was annoying, and when Piper glanced down, she did her best not to ask. The man was missing most of his fingers. Leo coughed to fill in the awkward silence — what was he expecting them to say?

''Oh, right, sorry Michael. Piper's a vegetarian, but other than that we should be good.'' She turned to them. ''You don't have any allergies, right?''

Michael turned back around and for a man with only five fingers in total, he didn't need help making dinner. The four sat around a small table, it wobbled slightly, but they were all just grateful to actually have a surface to eat off of.

Food was placed in front of them, steam rolling off the meat and tofu in elegant swirls and after a small pause of politeness, they couldn't take it anymore and began to devour the food. Eventually, they calmed down, taking breaths between each bite and actually tasting the food before swallowing it.

Michael took this chance to figure out why Charlie was here. After all, he hadn't seen her since they had all split ways. ''You on the run?'' He asked, arms crossed as he lent against the counter, mostly staring at the centre of the table, but he glanced at her as he spoke.

''Suppose that's one way to put it.''

A small chuckle left his throat as the visitors slowed down eating even more, interested in their conversation. ''Who this time?''

''Well, its, uh, not the police.''

Michael nodded gravely, humming as he breathed out through his nose. ''So, it's the monsters again. I thought you had found a place to be safe from them.''

Charlie's bottom lip moved to the side as she tilted her head left and right, trying to find something to say. She knew if she told him about running away from there, he would somehow find a way to get the message to her mother. ''I have, we're just on another quest.''

Piper spoke up, sensing the hesitance Charlie spoke with and though she didn't know what Charlie was trying to hide from him, she did know that changing the subject would be a safe idea. ''You know about the Greek World?''

He nodded, pointing to himself with his thumb, one of the only limbs still on his right hand. ''Son of Athena.''

''Have you been to Camp?'' Jason asked, wondering if he was like him.

''No. Charlie's mother found me. We traveled with others too.''

Charlie smiled faintly. Though young, she remembered the details, and the vague way Michael was choosing to tell the story was rather amusing.

''I didn't realize there was other options after Camp.''

''There isn't,'' Charlie shrugged. ''Not really. Camp is the safest place for people like us, none of us knew about it at the time. Apart from mother.'' Frowning slightly, Charlie remembered they day they parted. ''She told me where to go after we split up.''

Michael nodded. ''We all knew about it, Charlie.'' She looked up at him, confused. ''Aurora was the only one of us who had ever been, though. She told us about it all the time, said we were free to go whenever we wanted. But we all knew that there was no place safer than with her.'' He paused, waiting for her to take the information in. Once he saw her expression turn slightly angry, he knew to continue. ''The reason she never told you was because she didn't want you to be sent off on quests. Said the God's problems were too big for such little shoulders. She wanted you to have the decision when you were old enough to recognize the consequences. Unfortunately, she had to send you off early.''

Charlie stared at her plate, moving the potatoes around, suddenly full. She knew this was a bad idea. It was better to leave the past in the past.

The group wallowed in the silence for a little longer until Piper reached across the table, gently grabbing Charlie's forearm as she brushed her thumb against it. ''What happened to her, Charlie?'' She looked up and she could tell that Piper was trying to help her get it off her chest, but she wasn't in the mood to play 'the sharing game'.

''Enjoy your meals.'' She stood abruptly, pushing her plate forwards as he chair clashed behind her, and she left the room.

Michael sighed, picking up after her and taking her plate to the sink. ''She meant no harm.''

Leo glanced at his food, listened to the way his stomach rumbled at him, demanding more, and then he stood too. ''Excuse me,'' he said, pushing away the plate as to simultaneously push away the temptation to eat it. He followed after her.

The hallways were pretty narrow, and the stairs creaked under his weight, but he was glad they did. It meant that the noise he had heard was Charlie going this way too. At the top of the stairs, were two doors, and it wasn't had to tell which one she had taken.

The window was open, and he could faintly see her figure on the rooftop. He was beginning to wonder if any one Charlie had relation to had any self preservation instincts. ''Hey,'' he said lamely as he climbed out after her. He stood there, fists clenching and unclenching by his sides as he tried to figure out what to say. Maybe he should've done that before he came out here.

She turned to him, raising a single eyebrow accusingly, but Leo caught the way a smile had ghosted over her mouth when she saw him. That was the only confidence booster he needed.

''I don't understand how you do that.''

''Do what?''

''That!'' He said, pointing at her as a small laugh escaped him. It made Charlie giggle too, and he smiled proudly. He walked forwards, sending a tile skidding across the roof before falling to its doom. He took his seat next to her. ''How do you raise one eyebrow at a time?''

Charlie's head tilted backwards as she laughed. ''You mean you can't do it?''

''No!'' Leo leaned close to her face and Charlie leaned close too, still laughing under her breath as she raised an eyebrow. Leo narrowed his eyes in concentration, before his whole face scrunched up and his eyes widened. ''Am I doing it?'' He said without breathing.

''No.'' Leo released his breath, groaning as he flopped backwards. ''Drama Queen,'' Charlie muttered as she lent backwards too.

''So did you mean it?''

''Mean what?''

''What I said before?'' He paused, moving his head to look at her. ''Am I starting to smell?'' And then, she was attacked. Leo's arms had wrapped around her, doing their best to try and place her nose near any of the spots of grime on his clothes, or under his armpit as Charlie fought for her life.

''No!'' Charlie yelled as she laughed, kicking her legs as she squirmed to get away from him. ''Anything but that! Please!''

Leo was laughing too, his cheeks aching from how wide his grin was growing.

''You've spoken your truth, foolish mortal!'' He boomed in a dramatically deep voice, his chin toughing his chest as he spread his arms out, kneeling above her, giving her time to catch her breath. ''And now — you must face the consequences!''

''No! Get off me! Please! Curls — Curls! I'm too young to die!''

( 2653 )

This is more of a filler chapter, to'sneak' some of Charlie's past into the story.Lowkey kinda hate it, but do not criticise it,because I will cry. Thank you.