RECLUSE ?Leo Valdez?

Two tratiors??

"Coach," said Jason.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." Both Maisie and Jason said in unison.

"Sure."

Jason checked Pipers temperature delicately, like she could break if he wasn't careful. "Leo, can you stoke the fire?"

"On it." He sent a ball of fire into the small clump of flames and it grew to the size of a campfire.

"Do I look that bad?" Piper asked.

"Nah," Jason said.

"You're a terrible liar," she said. "Where are we?"

"Pikes Peak, Colorado."

"But that's, what— five hundred miles from Omaha?"

"Something like that," Jason agreed. "I harnessed the storm spirits to get us here. They didn't like it— went a little faster than I wanted, almost crashed us into the mountainside before I could get them back into the bag. I'm not trying that again."

"Why are we here?"

Leo sniffed, "That's what I asked them."

"Jason followed the trail in the sky until he couldn't." Maisie explained.

"This felt like the right place to stop." Jason agreed.

"Course it is," Coach said. "Aeolus's floating palace should be anchored above us, right at the peak. This is one of his favorite spots to dock."

"Maybe that was it." Jason knit his eyebrows. "I don't know. Something else, too ..."

"The Hunters were heading west," Piper remembered. "Do you think they're around here?"

Jason rubbed his forearms. "I don't see how anyone could survive the mountain right now. The storm's pretty bad. Its already the evening before the solstice, but we didn't have much choice but to wait the storm out. We had to give you some time to rest before we tried moving."

Piper didn't seem to need convincing. She shivered and trembled with each gust of wind that entered the shallow cave.

"We have to get you warm," Jason sat next to her and held his hands out awkwardly. "Uh, do you mind if I ..."

"I suppose." Piper said, attempting to act nonchalant.

He wrapped his arms around her as they sat closer to the fire. Leo turned to Maisie.

"I could use some warmth too." He said.

"You'll manage."

Accepting his rejection, Leo began to fry burger patties on a skillet.

"So, guys, long as you're cuddled up for story time ... something I've been meaning to tell you. On the way to Omaha, I had this dream. Kind of hard to understand with the static and the Wheel of Fortune breaking in—"

"Wheel of Fortune?" Piper asked.

Leo then told them about his dream. In the firelight, with the wind howling, the story was even creepier. Piper could imagine the static filled voice of the God, warning him of the giants who were the sons of Tartarus. And about Leo loosing friends along the way.

"I don't understand. If demigods and gods have to work together to defeat the giants, why would they stay silent? If they need us—"

Maisie laughed. "The gods hate needing humans. They couldn't care less about us."

"They like to be needed by humans, not the other way around. Things are going to get a lot worse before Zeus admits he made a mistake by closing Olympus." Hedge said.