𝟬𝟭𝟯. pemdas

"COOL, RIGHT?" Leo asked the group, effortlessly using 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 bunch of blurry lines behind them. They shot over Connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds, entering a whole new atmosphere. It was the most amazing experience ever for Piper until the intrusive thoughts came flooding in.

"What if we get spotted?" she asked.

"Who?" Leo responded from the front with a toothy grin. "The five-hundred-pound dragon? Or Aera flashing half the people of Earth?"

"The Mist," Jason reminded from behind her. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something. As for Aera, um..." He scratched his head. "...are you sure you're okay sitting like that?"

"This isn't my first rodeo, partner," Aera said mockingly. Even though Aera was sitting behind her, Piper could practically hear her rolling her eyes. "A couple of hours on a dragon in a ballgown never killed anybody."

Piper looked over her shoulder. "You sure about that?"

Sitting sideways like a princess on a saddle, Aera fluffed her hair, modest as ever. Her royal purple dress flowed freely through the gentle wind. There was a bruise starting to form around her eye and the corner of her lip was still bleeding a little. Piper wasn't too worried. Knowing Aera, she'd find a way to turn the worst injuries into a fashion accessory.

In fact, Piper was more concerned with what Ethan Nakamura had to say about her. He was totally creepy and super dramatic, but everything he said connected to Annabeth's story. Piper wasn't sure how to feel anymore, but she knew she couldn't really judge Aera for being selfish when she was on the road to betraying them all. If anything, maybe it would cancel out if she betrayed a traitor? PEMDAS?

But what about the others? The ones who weren't traitors?

Piper sneaked a peek past Aera and noticed Jason was clutching a photo in his hand—a picture of a girl with dark hair. Okay, that was suspicious...

Aera made eye contact with Piper. Her eyes were narrowed. She had seen it too. Piper thought it was better not to pry unless Jason volunteered the information himself but of course, Aera had other ideas.

"Why do you have that photograph?" Aera demanded. Oh, boy.

"What photograph?" Jason asked evasively, shoving it into his pocket.

Piper wanted to thwack him on the forehead. Could he be more obvious?

"I don't know," Aera snarked. "The one you're hiding in your pocket like a total perv?" She leaned back, clearly miffed. "It's Thalia, isn't it?"

Piper glanced at Leo, who just shrugged.

"Who's Thalia?" she asked.

Jason took a deep breath like he was uttering a silent final prayer. Then he answered, "She's my sister."

"She's your sister?" Piper couldn't help but blurt. Jason rubbed the back of his neck with a small blush. Whoa. Whoa. Piper's mind really went into the gutter for a second there. Maybe it was Aera's influence. Yeah, it was definitely Aera's influence.

"Half-sister," Aera corrected almost immediately. "Well, actually, the gods don't have DNA, so really, she's just some random girl who sleeps in the same cabin as you."

Piper couldn't believe what she was hearing. Some random girl who sleeps in the same cabin as you? Was that how Aera thought of Piper? Of all their siblings?

"Um," Jason stammered, and Piper thought the clueless boy looked more clueless than usual, "No. That's not what I meant. Thalia's my real s—"

Aera turned her nose away before Jason could finish, effectively cutting him off. "Whatever you say, big guy." She gave Piper a sour look like, ugh, can you believe him?

Jason blinked, staring blankly at the side of Aera's face. Piper felt sorry for him. He probably didn't understand why Aera had gotten upset at him like that. Piper did, but even then, she still pitied him.

"Trouble in paradise?" Leo snickered. "Already?"

Let's hope not. Piper decided to change the subject to a safer one. "Where are we heading?"

"Oh, yeah," Leo agreed. Thankfully he seemed to catch Piper's drift immediately. "What's the plan, bro? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"

Piper hoped Jason would take the bait, and luckily he did. Though not without watching Aera, who stubbornly kept her eyes trained on random clouds, a few seconds more.

Poor guy, Piper sympathized. Even the son of the king of the gods doesn't stand a chance against Aera.

"We're going to find the god of the North Wind." When he finally realized Aera was not going to give him any time of the day, Jason cleared his throat. "Let's catch some storm spirits."

"Hold on," Leo interjected, doing a double take. "You want to look for Dylan, that nasty storm dude, on purpose? The guy who threw me off the skywalk?"

"And sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds?" Piper asked.

"And ruined my hair?" Aera added abashedly.

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 just had to ask. "What is he, the God of Boring?"

"Ugh." Aera rolled her eyes, making a show of studying her fingernails. "Aren't they all?"

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 interrupted again. "Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks."

"Ooh, bubble tea time!" Aera suddenly perked up. "Quick! Someone add that to the itinerary. Boba runs are essential for dirty demigod work. The only thing getting me through this stupid quest is a brown sugar milk tea with extra boba."

"Aera," Piper said because she knew it would only hurt Jason if he did, "we're not making a boba run."

"Then..." Aera said, her eyes still sparkling. "...how about coffee?"

"No."

And third, Jason finished, before Aera could get more pumped up about refreshments, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could find Hera and free her.

"That's about it," Jason wrapped up. "Well...there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."

"You think she likes Frappuccinos?" Aera offered.

"We could get her one of those pup cups," Leo suggested, which was so not helpful to their cause. "But for wolves."

"A wolf cup!" Aera brainstormed. "Wait, no. That sounds like a menstrual product."

Piper groaned, hugging her cramping stomach. "Can we not talk about periods right now?"

"Why?" Leo asked.

"We're half immortal," Aera said with a straight face, "and still bleed the River Styx out of our Tartarus entrance every month. Not to mention the mood swings are enough to raze an entire city on our own. If only I was bleeding during the Battle of Manhattan, maybe I could've..." She trailed off, sighing melodramatically. "Oh, well, at least there is one good part to having a period as a demigod, and it's that human blood can mask the scent of demigod stench."

"It can?" Leo asked, eyes blown in amazement.

"Yeah." Aera shrugged indifferently. "You know, like the giant blood clots that are as thick as honey and slug out of your—"

"Aera!" Piper shrieked, putting her hands out to stop her. This was so awkward.

Letting go of the reins, Leo clutched his stomach and made loud retching noises from the front.

Meanwhile, Jason simply pursed his lips and nodded rather calmly, like he had accepted his fate.

"What?" Aera asked innocently. "It's not like I'm making this stuff up. I'm not the goddess of periods."

Leo whistled lowly when he finished pretending to vomit. "Yo, you beauty queens have blood slugs coming out of you every month?" He pounded a fist on his chest. "Respect."

Jason nodded in agreement, but Piper got the feeling he was just trying to get on Aera's good side again. Aera, however, just rolled her eyes again. Piper stifled a laugh.

"Anyway," Piper interjected before things could go down a bloody (literally) route, "moving onto a less disturbing topic..."

That seemed enough for Jason to piggyback off. He started describing his dream about the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.

"Uh-huh," Leo said, sounding completely unconvinced. "But you don't know where this place is."

"Nope," Jason admitted.

"There's also giants," Piper added. "The prophecy said the giants' revenge."

"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants—like more than one? Why can't it be just one giant who wants revenge?"

"Because they're giants," Aera responded. "Duh."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning they're big and ugly and want revenge for being big and ugly. Duh."

Leo was wise enough to hold up his hands in surrender. "My bad."

"I remember in some of the old Greek stories," Piper continued, "there was something about an army of giants."

Aera wrinkled her nose like there was a foul smell. "Ew."

"Great," Leo muttered as Aera went through Piper's backpack. "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?"

"Wait," Jason said, "your dad's an actor?"

Leo laughed. "I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That's funny—"

"So funny," Aera said lifelessly, checking her reflection through a compact mirror she dug out from Piper's backpack.

"—but yeah," he continued, "her dad's Tristan McLean."

Jason blinked. "Uh—Sorry, what was he in?"

"Ugh, you don't know Twilight or Tristan McLean?" Aera exasperated, snapping the compact shut. "Have you been living under a rock?"

Piper tried to ignore the heat that flushed in her cheeks. Aera, of all people, being a fan of her dad wasn't shocking, but Piper was still shocked every time.

"It doesn't matter," she 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. I think they were related to the Titans..."

Without even realizing it, Piper had turned her head toward Aera. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't the only one. Four sets of eyes seemed to have fallen onto Aera, including Festus the Dragon.

Aera sharply zipped Piper's backpack shut. "Yeah, real subtle, guys."

"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason recalled. "The last chapter...you know what he was talking about, don't you? He mentioned something even worse than the Titans."

"OK, now you're just accusing me." Aera crossed her arms. Her jaw was so tight it seemed like it was going to stay clenched forever until she spoke again. "I'll have you know I don't know what's going on either. I haven't contacted any big evils since Kronos' remains were scattered beyond hope like a serious case of eyeshadow fallout. So you three better stop your little staring problem before I give you a real problem."

"Feisty!" Leo commented, breaking the awkward silence. "So, to recap...Aera knows as much as we do. Giants are big and ugly and can throw mountains. Friendly wolves will eat us if we show weakness. Might or might not accept a wolf cup. Giant blood slugs. Evil espresso drinks. Titans falling out like eyeshadow. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"Oh my gods, you had one too?" Aera asked.

"Wait, is that another joke?" Piper couldn't help but question.

Leo told them about his aunt, Tía Callida, who was really Hera in disguise, and how she'd appeared to him at camp. He also told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep and seemed to know the future.

The whole time Piper got the feeling Leo was hiding something. He wouldn't look at them, keeping his eyes straight ahead as they flew. Leo was normally abnormally loud, so Piper decided anything he didn't want to talk about was probably best to be left unsaid. She just hoped it wasn't anything too bad. That would completely defeat the point of PEMDAS.

"That's..." Piper said, not knowing how to respond after Leo wrapped up the ominous dirt lady who was prophesying the end of the world, "...disturbing."

"'Bout sums it up," Leo mumbled.

Aera cleared her throat. Piper glanced over and saw her staring at Leo with concentration. She probably thought Leo's way of explaining was weird, too. Or maybe she was just judging his outfit. Piper really couldn't tell sometimes.

"Thing is," Leo continued, snapping Piper out of it, "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?"

"Question of the hour," Aera uttered lowly, like it was for herself, but Piper still heard her.

She knew Jason did too because not long after he said, "We're doing this because Hera chose us."

"To fight for her," Aera said shortly, "when she's done nothing but make our lives complicated."

The space between Jason's eyebrows creased. "We're the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger than any of us."

"Right," Aera said crassly. She fixed a strand of hair out of her face. "If it's so much bigger than us, why are we the ones doing it?"

"Again, helping Hera is the only way we can get back our—my memory," Jason reminded her and Piper could tell he was starting to get irritated. "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—"

"So?" Aera challenged. "Let them. It's not like anyone is going to miss her."

"Aera," Piper said mildly, "even if you hate her, she's still the queen of the gods."

"Queens can be replaced," Aera dared to declare. Her voice was chillingly calm for someone who was talking about getting rid of the Queen of Olympus. "Just like empires can be destroyed."

Jason scowled. "Not a good trade-off."

"Jason's right," Piper said softly, uncomfortable with the rising tension between them. "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—no offense." She added swiftly before Aera could get the wrong idea.

Jason nodded in agreement. "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—"

"Puh-lease." Aera scoffed. "Are you really taking this 'mistress' seriously? The one Domino Pizza was exaggerating about on the skywalk? The gods already wish all demigods were never born. This is nothing."

"I dunno," Leo mused. "It might be that weird sleeping lady. Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."

"I'm just saying," Jason continued defensively, "it doesn't hurt to cut our losses."

"You mean the gods' losses," Aera insisted. "AKA the gods who don't care about us."

Part of Piper really wished Aera would stop. Piper had her own reasons for going on this quest—namely for her father. They were already on their way to rescue Hera. She didn't want to spend the entire trip hearing about how much Aera hated the gods they were risking their lives to save. It was not a vibe. Apparently, Jason didn't think so either.

"Why do you keep bringing this up?" Jason asked irritably.

"I'm only putting things in perspective," Aera said innocently. "Do I love all my brothers and sisters despite all their flaws? Of course not. But at least I'm honest about it and I know my options."

"The four of us agreed to go on this quest. You insisted on coming." Jason shook his head in dismay. "Are you acting like this because of what that Nakamura guy said earlier?"

A dangerous glint appeared in Aera's eyes like diamond knives. And with her busted lip and a dark bruise starting to come in, she looked much more murderous than glamorous in that moment.

"Oh, yeah," she said coldly, "You must've been really interested in what Ethan Nakamura had to say."

Piper tried to intervene. "Guys—"

Jason's frown deepened. "Should I even ask what that means?"

"The whole failed rebellion thing?" Aera scoffed. Piper noticed she had reached for a tube of lipstick. "Mm-hmm, yeah, you must have loved listening to him tell everyone how I'm a traitor who can't even do that right."

"What?" Jason demanded, sky blue eyes widening. Piper could see that he was truly blindsided by what she said. "That's not true. Aera, I chose you for this quest because I trust you. We're a team."

"Since when?" she interrogated. "Because last I checked, you, the great almighty leader of this quest, thought I was so flimsy that I wouldn't even bring a weapon with me."

"I," Leo volunteered, raising his hand, "also thought that."

"Don't start," Piper snapped. Leo lowered his hand timidly.

Jason seemed to straighten in his seat. "I asked you that question for your safety."

"Because you don't think I'm capable enough to defend myself," Aera accused.

"That's not what I said—"

"That's what you implied," Aera edged. "See?" she exasperated, glaring off into the clouds. "This is exactly why I hate heroes. You all think you're so much better than everyone else."

"I mean," Leo put in, "he is the leader of this quest."

"Leo." Piper hit his arm. "Zip it."

"Well, you're welcome to share your opinion any time," Jason stated gruffly. "I'm always open to suggestions. Just don't expect me to jump at the idea of leaving the queen of the gods to die."

"We have a dragon," Aera emphasized. "We got released from Camp Half-Prison—oh, sorry, Camp Half-Blood. The four of us have special powers. We can go anywhere we want, do anything we want. So, if I'm right—which we all know I am—this quest is just a waste of time and makeup wipes." She turned to Piper. "You agree with me. Don't you, Piper?"

Piper didn't know where to look, at Aera who was quite literally suggesting that they ignore the end of the world or at Jason who quite literally looked like he wanted to punch the storm clouds. Aera's voice sounded so convincing, and her presence was somehow so comforting, Piper almost agreed with her. Then she came to her senses and realized Aera was probably pulling some kind of calming move on her.

"Um," Piper said, trying not to break anything with her words, "Aera, I know it must have been hard for you to volunteer for this quest. It was for me, so I guess I see where you're coming from, but—"

"Thank you!" Aera exclaimed before Piper could finish. "Look! Piper agrees with me. This is stupid."

"But we also have a responsibility to fulfill," she interjected before Aera could run off the tracks on her own again. "For whatever reason, Hera needs us. The world needs us." My dad needs us.

Piper held her breath for three painfully slow seconds. Thankfully, Aera didn't do anything horrible like or jump Piper or gauge out her eyes for disagreeing with her. She just rolled her eyes again. "Whatever."

Nobody said anything after that. The silence that ensued was almost unbearable. Piper pretended to busy herself with hooking her feet in the chinks of the dragon's armor. They were all so tense...and scared...and already hiding things from each other. A great start.

Piper began to wonder if she had done the right thing saying what she did. If Aera was in a better mood, maybe she could've given them a pep talk and eased their worries with her powers.

No. Piper had her dad to think about. She couldn't rely on Aera. She had to learn to hold her own. Besides, she didn't know exactly what Aera could do and based on experience, emotions were usually a tall order. She just wished Aera wasn't so abrasive for Leo's sake. His body was shaking in front of her, but Piper couldn't decide if it was from the cold or from everything he had just told them.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Piper murmured to Leo. "You were up all night."

Leo hesitated like he wanted to protest but then seemed to give in at the prospect of rest. "You won't let me fall off?"

Piper patted his shoulder. "Trust me, Valdez. Beautiful people never lie."

Leo briefly peered over his shoulder and snickered. "Yeah, right." Then he leaned forward against the warm bronze of the dragon's neck and closed his eyes.

Piper hoped Aera hadn't heard that but when she turned around, Aera was occupied with something else. Filing her nails.

Jason was just sitting behind her, keeping his eyes trained on the snowy forests below them as if looking up would turn him to stone. He was already sitting like stone, shoulders rigid and arms crossed. He didn't look like a very happy camper, but at least him and Aera weren't fighting anymore.

Gods, this was awkward. Someone, get Piper out.