The Lost Hero

XXXVIII JASON

JASON’S JAW DROPPED. THE CENTRAL SECTION of Aeolus’s fortress was as big as a cathedral, with a soaring domed roof covered in silver. Television equipment floated randomly through the air—cameras, spotlights, set pieces, potted plants. And there was no floor. Leo almost fell into the chasm before Jason pulled him back.

“Holy—!” Leo gulped. “Hey, Mellie. A little warning next time!”

An enormous circular pit plunged into the heart of the mountain. It was probably half a mile deep, honeycombed with caves. Some of the tunnels probably led straight outside. Jason remembered seeing winds blast out of them when they’d been on Pikes Peak. Other caves were sealed with some glistening material like glass or wax. The whole cavern bustled with harpies, aurai, and paper airplanes, but for someone who couldn’t fly, it would be a very long, very fatal fall.

“Oh, my,” Mellie gasped. “I’m so sorry.” She unclipped a walkie-talkie from somewhere inside her robes and spoke into it: “Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio, please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks.”

A few seconds later, an army of harpies rose from the pit—three dozen or so demon chicken ladies, all carrying squares of various building material. They went to work hammering and gluing—and using large quantities of duct tape, which didn’t reassure Jason. In no time there was a makeshift floor snaking out over the chasm. It was made of plywood, marble blocks, carpet squares, wedges of grass sod—just about anything.

“That can’t be safe,” Jason said.

“Oh, it is!” Mellie assured him. “The harpies are very good.”

Easy for her to say. She just drifted across without touching the floor, but Jason decided he had the best chance at surviving, since he could fly, so he stepped out first. Amazingly, the floor held.

Piper gripped his hand and followed him. “If I fall, you’re catching me.”

“Uh, sure.” Jason hoped he wasn’t blushing.

Leo stepped out next. “You’re catching me, too, Superman. But I ain’t holding your hand.”

Mellie led them toward the middle of the chamber, where a loose sphere of flat-panel video screens floated around a kind of control center. A man hovered inside, checking monitors and reading paper airplane messages.

The man paid them no attention as Mellie brought them forward. She pushed a forty-two-inch Sony out of their way and led them into the control area.

Leo whistled. “I got to get a room like this.”

The floating screens showed all sorts of television programs. Some Jason recognized—news broadcasts, mostly—but some programs looked a little strange: gladiators fighting, demigods battling monsters. Maybe they were movies, but they looked more like reality shows.

At the far end of the sphere was a silky blue backdrop like a cinema screen, with cameras and studio lights floating around it.

The man in the center was talking into an earpiece phone. He had a remote control in each hand and was pointing them at various screens, seemingly at random.

He wore a business suit that looked like the sky—blue mostly, but dappled with clouds that changed and darkened and moved across the fabric. He looked like he was in his sixties, with a shock of white hair, but he had a ton of stage makeup on, and that smooth plastic-surgery look to his face, so he appeared not really young, not really old, just wrong—like a Ken doll someone had halfway melted in a microwave. His eyes darted back and forth from screen to screen, like he was trying to absorb everything at once. He muttered things into his phone, and his mouth kept twitching. He was either amused, or crazy, or both.

Mellie floated toward him. “Ah, sir, Mr. Aeolus, these demigods—”

“Hold it!” He held up a hand to silence her, then pointed at one of the screens. “Watch!”

It was one of those storm-chaser programs, where insane thrill-seekers drive after tornados. As Jason watched, a Jeep plowed straight into a funnel cloud and got tossed into the sky.

Aeolus shrieked with delight. “The Disaster Channel. People do that on purpose!” He turned toward Jason with a mad grin. “Isn’t that amazing? Let’s watch it again.”

“Um, sir,” Mellie said, “this is Jason, son of—”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” Aeolus said. “You’re back. How did it go?”

Jason hesitated. “Sorry? I think you’ve mistaken me—”

“No, no, Jason Grace, aren’t you? It was—what—last year? You were on your way to fight a sea monster, I believe.”

“I—I don’t remember.”

Aelous laughed. “Must not have been a very good sea monster! No, I remember every hero who’s ever come to me for aid. Odysseus—gods, he docked at my island for a month! At least you only stayed a few days. Now, watch this video. These ducks get sucked straight into—”

“Sir,” Mellie interrupted. “Two minutes to air.”

“Air!” Aeolus exclaimed. “I love air. How do I look? Makeup!”

Immediately a small tornado of brushes, blotters, and cotton balls descended on Aeolus. They blurred across his face in a cloud of flesh-tone smoke until his coloration was even more gruesome than before. Wind swirled through his hair and left it sticking up like a frosted Christmas tree.

“Mr. Aeolus.” Jason slipped off the golden backpack. “We brought you these rogue storm spirits.”

“Did you!” Aeolus looked at the bag like it was a gift from a fan—something he really didn’t want. “Well, how nice.”

Leo nudged him, and Jason offered the bag. “Boreas sent us to capture them for you. We hope you’ll accept them and stop—you know—ordering demigods to be killed.”

Aeolus laughed, and looked incredulously at Mellie. “Demigods be killed—did I order that?”

Mellie checked her computer tablet. “Yes, sir, fifteenth of September. ‘Storm spirits released by the death of Typhon, demigods to be held responsible,’ etc… yes, a general order for them all to be killed.”

“Oh, pish,” Aeolus said. “I was just grumpy. Rescind that order, Mellie, and um, who’s on guard duty—Teriyaki?—Teri, take these storm spirits down to cell block Fourteen E, will you?”

A harpy swooped out of nowhere, snatched the golden bag, and spiraled into the abyss.

Aeolus grinned at Jason. “Now, sorry about that kill-on-sight business. But gods, I really was mad, wasn’t I?” His face suddenly darkened, and his suit did the same, the lapels flashing with lightning. “You know … I remember now. Almost seemed like a voice was telling me to give that order. A little cold tingle on the back of my neck.”

Jason tensed. A cold tingle on the back of his neck … Why did that sound so familiar? “A … um, voice in your head, sir?”

“Yes. How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?”

“No, sir,” she said patiently. “They just brought us the storm spirits, which makes everything all right.”

“Of course.” Aeolus laughed. “Sorry. Mellie, let’s send the demigods something nice. A box of chocolates, perhaps.”

“A box of chocolates to every demigod in the world, sir?”

“No, too expensive. Never mind. Wait, it’s time! I’m on!”

Aeolus flew off toward the blue screen as newscast music started to play.

Jason looked at Piper and Leo, who seemed just as confused as he was.

“Mellie,” he said, “is he … always like that?”

She smiled sheepishly. “Well, you know what they say. If you don’t like his mood, wait five minutes. That expression ‘whichever way the wind blows’—that was based on him.”

“And that thing about the sea monster,” Jason said. “Was I here before?”

Mellie blushed. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember. I’m Mr. Aeolus’s new assistant. I’ve been with him longer than most, but still—not that long.”

“How long do his assistants usually last?” Piper asked. “

Oh …” Mellie thought for a moment. “I’ve been doing this for … twelve hours?”

A voice blared from floating speakers: “And now, weather every twelve minutes! Here’s your forecaster for Olympian Weather—the OW! channel—Aeolus!”

Lights blazed on Aeolus, who was now standing in front of the blue screen. His smile was unnaturally white, and he looked like he’d had so much caffeine his face was about to explode.

“Hello, Olympus! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We’ll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers!” He gestured at the blue screen, but when Jason checked the monitors, he saw that a digital image was being projected behind Aeolus, so it looked like he was standing in front of a U.S. map with animated smiley suns and frowny storm clouds. “Along the eastern seaboard—oh, hold on.” He tapped his earpiece. “Sorry, folks! Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on! Sorry, Demeter. Over in the Midwest, I’m not sure what St. Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect winter storms! Boreas himself is being called down to punish the area with ice. Bad news, Missouri! No, wait. Hephaestus feels sorry for central Missouri, so you all will have much more moderate temperatures and sunny skies.”

Aeolus kept going like that—forecasting each area of the country and changing his prediction two or three times as he got messages over his earpiece—the gods apparently putting in orders for various winds and weather.

“This can’t be right,” Jason whispered. “Weather isn’t this random.”

Mellie smirked. “And how often are the mortal weathermen right? They talk about fronts and air pressure and moisture, but the weather surprises them all the time. At least Aeolus tells us why it’s so unpredictable. Very hard job, trying to appease all the gods at once. It’s enough to drive anyone …”

She trailed off, but Jason knew what she meant. Mad. Aeolus was completely mad.

“And that’s the weather,” Aeolus concluded. “See you in twelve minutes, because I’m sure it’ll change!”

The lights shut off, the video monitors went back to random coverage, and just for a moment, Aeolus’s face sagged with weariness. Then he seemed to remember he had guests, and he put a smile back on.

“So, you brought me some rogue storm spirits,” Aeolus said. “I suppose … thanks! And did you want something else? I assume so. Demigods always do.”

Mellie said, “Um, sir, this is Zeus’s son.”

“Yes, yes. I know that. I said I remembered him from before.”

“But, sir, they’re here from Olympus.”

Aeolus looked stunned. Then he laughed so abruptly, Jason almost jumped into the chasm. “You mean you’re here on behalf of your father this time? Finally! I knew they would send someone to renegotiate my contract!”

“Um, what?” Jason asked.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Aeolus sighed with relief. “It’s been what, three thousand years since Zeus made me master of the winds. Not that I’m ungrateful, of course! But really, my contract is so vague. Obviously I’m immortal, but ‘master of the winds.’ What does that mean? Am I a nature spirit? A demigod? A god? I want to be god of the winds, because the benefits are so much better. Can we start with that?”

Jason looked at his friends, mystified.

“Dude,” Leo said, “you think we’re here to promote you?”

“You are, then?” Aeolus grinned. His business suit turned completely blue—not a cloud in the fabric. “Marvelous! I mean, I think I’ve shown quite a bit of initiative with the weather channel, eh? And of course I’m in the press all the time. So many books have been written about me: Into Thin Air, Up in the Air, Gone with the Wind—”

“Er, I don’t think those are about you,” Jason said, before he noticed Mellie shaking her head.

“Nonsense,” Aeolus said. “Mellie, they’re biographies of me, aren’t they?”

“Absolutely, sir,” she squeaked.

“There, you see? I don’t read. Who has time? But obviously the mortals love me. So, we’ll change my official title to god of the winds. Then, about salary and staff—”

“Sir,” Jason said, “we’re not from Olympus.”

Aeolus blinked. “But—”

“I’m the son of Zeus, yes,” Jason said, “but we’re not here to negotiate your contract. We’re on a quest and we need your help.”

Aeolus’s expression hardened. “Like last time? Like every hero who comes here? Demigods! It’s always about you, isn’t it?”

“Sir, please, I don’t remember last time, but if you helped me once before—”

“I’m always helping! Well, sometimes I’m destroying, but mostly I’m helping, and sometimes I’m asked to do both at the same time! Why, Aeneas, the first of your kind—”

“My kind?” Jason asked. “You mean, demigods?”

“Oh, please!” Aeolus said. “I mean your line of demigods. You know, Aeneas, son of Venus—the only surviving hero of Troy. When the Greeks burned down his city, he escaped to Italy, where he founded the kingdom that would eventually become Rome, blah, blah, blah. That’s what I meant.”

“I don’t get it,” Jason admitted.

Aeolus rolled his eyes. “The point being, I was thrown in the middle of that conflict, too! Juno calls up: ‘Oh, Aeolus, destroy Aeneas’s ships for me. I don’t like him.’ Then Neptune says, ‘No, you don’t! That’s my territory. Calm the winds.’ Then Juno is like, ‘No, wreck his ships, or I’ll tell Jupiter you’re uncooperative!’ Do you think it’s easy juggling requests like that?”

“No,” Jason said. “I guess not.”

“And don’t get me started on Amelia Earhart! I’m still getting angry calls from Olympus about knocking her out of the sky!”

“We just want information,” Piper said in her most calming voice. “We hear you know everything.”

Aeolus straightened his lapels and looked slightly mollified. “Well … that’s true, of course. For instance, I know that this business here”—he waggled his fingers at the three of them—“this harebrained scheme of Juno’s to bring you all together is likely to end in bloodshed. As for you, Piper McLean, I know your father is in serious trouble.” He held out his hand, and a scrap of paper fluttered into his grasp. It was a photo of Piper with a guy who must’ve been her dad. His face did look familiar. Jason was pretty sure he’d seen him in some movies.

Piper took the photo. Her hands were shaking. “This—this is from his wallet.”

“Yes,” Aeolus said. “All things lost in the wind eventually come to me. The photo blew away when the Earthborn captured him.”

“The what?” Piper asked.

Aeolus waved aside the question and narrowed his eyes at Leo. “Now, you, son of Hephaestus … yes, I see your future.” Another paper fell into the wind god’s hands—an old tattered drawing done in crayons.

Leo took it as if it might be coated in poison. He staggered backward.

“Leo?” Jason said. “What is it?”

“Something I—I drew when I was a kid.” He folded it quickly and put it in his coat. “It’s … yeah, it’s nothing.”

Aeolus laughed. “Really? Just the key to your success! Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous.”

He smiled at Jason like he was issuing a challenge. Behind him, Mellie shook her head in warning.

“Yeah,” Jason said. “We need to find the lair of Enceladus.”

Aeolus’s smile melted. “The giant? Why would you want to go there? He’s horrible! He doesn’t even watch my program!”

Piper held up the photo. “Aeolus, he’s got my father. We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive.”

“Now, that’s impossible,” Aeolus said. “Even I can’t see that, and believe me, I’ve tried. There’s a veil of magic over Hera’s location—very strong, impossible to locate.”

“She’s at a place called the Wolf House,” Jason said.

“Hold on!” Aelous put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. “I’m getting something! Yes, she’s at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don’t know where that is.”

“Enceladus does,” Piper persisted. “If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess—”

“Yeah,” Leo said, catching on. “And if we save her, she’d be really grateful to you—”

“And Zeus might promote you,” Jason finished.

Aeolus’s eyebrows crept up. “A promotion—and all you want from me is the giant’s location?”

“Well, if you could get us there, too,” Jason amended, “that would be great.”

Mellie clapped her hands in excitement. “Oh, he could do that! He often sends helpful winds—”

“Mellie, quiet!” Aeolus snapped. “I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretenses.”

Her face paled. “Yes, sir. Sorry, sir.”

“It wasn’t her fault,” Jason said. “But about that help …”

Aelous tilted his head as if thinking. Then Jason realized the wind lord was listening to voices in his earpiece.

“Well … Zeus approves,” Aeolus muttered. “He says … he says it would be better if you could avoid saving her until after the weekend, because he has a big party planned—Ow! That’s Aphrodite yelling at him, reminding him that the solstice starts at dawn. She says I should help you. And Hephaestus… yes. Hmm. Very rare they agree on anything. Hold on …”

Jason smiled at his friends. Finally, they were having some good luck. Their godly parents were standing up for them.

Back toward the entrance, Jason heard a loud belch. Coach Hedge waddled in from the lobby, grass all over his face. Mellie saw him coming across the makeshift floor and caught her breath. “Who is that?”

Jason stifled a cough. “That? That’s just Coach Hedge. Uh, Gleeson Hedge. He’s our …” Jason wasn’t sure what to call him: teacher, friend, problem?

“Our guide.”

“He’s so goatly,” Mellie murmured.

Behind her, Piper poofed out her cheeks, pretending to vomit.

“What’s up, guys?” Hedge trotted over. “Wow, nice place. Oh! Sod squares.”

“Coach, you just ate,” Jason said. “And we’re using the sod as a floor. This is, ah, Mellie—”

“An aura.” Hedge smiled winningly. “Beautiful as a summer breeze.”

Mellie blushed.

“And Aeolus here was just about to help us,” Jason said.

“Yes,” the wind lord muttered. “It seems so. You’ll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo.”

“Devil Mountain?” Leo asked. “That doesn’t sound good.”

“I remember that place!” Piper said. “I went there once with my dad. It’s just east of San Francisco Bay.”

“The Bay Area again?” The coach shook his head. “Not good. Not good at all.”

“Now …” Aeolus began to smile. “As to getting you there—”

Suddenly his face went slack. He bent over and tapped his earpiece as if it were malfunctioning. When he straightened again, his eyes were wild. Despite the makeup, he looked like an old man—an old, very frightened man. “She hasn’t spoke to me for centuries. I can’t—yes, yes I understand.”

He swallowed, regarding Jason as if he had suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. “I’m sorry, son of Jupiter. New orders. You all have to die.”

Mellie squeaked. “But—but, sir! Zeus said to help them. Aphrodite, Hephaestus—”

“Mellie!” Aeolus snapped. “Your job is already on the line. Besides, there are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature.”

“Whose orders?” Jason said. “Zeus will fire you if you don’t help us!”

“I doubt it.” Aeolus flicked his wrist, and far below them, a cell door opened in the pit. Jason could hear storm spirits screaming out of it, spiraling up toward them, howling for blood.

“Even Zeus understands the order of things,” Aeolus said. “And if she is waking—by all the gods—she cannot be denied. Good-bye, heroes. I’m terribly sorry, but I’ll have to make this quick. I’m back on the air in four minutes.”

Jason summoned his sword. Coach Hedge pulled out his club. Mellie the aura yelled, “No!”

She dived at their feet just as the storm spirits hit with hurricane force, blasting the floor to pieces, shredding the carpet samples and marble and linoleum into what should’ve been lethal projectiles, had Mellie’s robes not spread out like a shield and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The five of them fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above them, “Mellie, you are so fired!”

“Quick,” Mellie yelled. “Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?”

“A little!”

“Then help me, or you’re all dead!” Mellie grabbed his hand, and an electric charge went through Jason’s arm. He understood what she needed. They had to control their fall and head for one of the open tunnels. The storm spirits were following them down, closing rapidly, bringing with them a cloud of deadly shrapnel.

Jason grabbed Piper’s hand. “Group hug!”

Hedge, Leo, and Piper tried to huddle together, hanging on to Jason and Mellie as they fell.

“This is NOT GOOD!” Leo yelled.

“Bring it on, gas bags!” Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. “I’ll pulverize you!”

“He’s magnificent,” Mellie sighed.

“Concentrate?” Jason prompted.

“Right!” she said.

They channeled the wind so their fall became more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. There was no way they could stop.

Mellie’s robes billowed around her. Jason and the others clung to her desperately, and they began to slow down, but the storm spirits were screaming into the tunnel behind them.

“Can’t—hold—long,” Mellie warned. “Stay together! When the winds hit—”

“You’re doing great, Mellie,” Hedge said. “My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn’t have done better herself.”

“Iris-message me?” Mellie pleaded.

Hedge winked.

“Could you guys plan your date later?” Piper screamed. “Look!”

Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark. Jason could feel his ears pop as the pressure built.

“Can’t hold them,” Mellie warned. “But I’ll try to shield you, do you one more favor.”

“Thanks, Mellie,” Jason said. “I hope you get a new job.”

She smiled, and then dissolved, wrapping them in a warm gentle breeze. Then the real winds hit, shooting them into the sky so fast, Jason blacked out.