Daughter of Wine

Leo

Trudging around in sewer tunnels is not my choice of early morning activity. Jason is leading us down, sensing the storm spirits in some creepy way. Piper is behind him, and I'm taking up the rear. It's quiet except for the dripping of water. 

"How much farther do you think it is?" Piper asks, breaking the silence. Her voice echoes down the tunnels ominously. 

"I don't know." Jason admits. "We might not even be going the right way."

"Awesome." I grumble. "Lost in a sewer tunnel. At least it's not one of the smelly ones. Those are the worst." 

"Good job looking on the bright side." Jason tells me. "I'm assuming they follow the wind, that would make the most sense-"

He turns a corner and is immediately snatched. 

"Jason!" Piper exclaims, as a girl steps out form around the corner holding a knife to his neck. 

"No sudden moves or Ken doll gets it." She commands us. 

Oh boy, she's gorgeous. She's very petite, one of the few women shorter than I am. She has chocolately brown hair that falls in waves around her shoulders and down to her waist. Hey eyes are a pale green, and they flit between Piper and I with so much intensity, I feel like I could melt right into the floor. Her tiny nose is splashed with freckles, and her lips are full and pouty, the outer corners tilted up, so it looks like she's smirking. Her nose and cheeks are tinged pink, like you'd see on an old man who's spent too much time at the bar. She's wearing and orange Camp Half-Blood shirt underneath a black jacket. She's a demigod. But her voice, man, it makes my heart melt. She's got a Spanish accent, and the way words roll off of her tongue remind me of my mom.  

"Who are you?" She asks. "What are you doing here?"

"Look, why don't you let him go, and we'll talk about it?" Piper tries to use magic, but the girl shakes her head. 

"Don't try and charmspeak me." She looks at me, in the eye this time, and her eyes widen, just for a moment. I wonder if she feels that too. A strange... tingling. She almost drops her knife, but quickly regains her composure. She grabs Jason tighter. "I don't have much time." She turns her head to look at Jason better. "Who are you?"

"Jason Grace." He replies instantly. "Son of Jupiter." 

"And who are they?"

"That's Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite. And that's Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus." 

"Jason!" Piper scolds him for spilling our information, but he shrugs, as if he can't help it. 

"What are you doing here?" The girl asks us. 

Piper glances at me fearfully. 

"Hey," I speak, and the girl looks at me again, "Let him go." 

"Not until you guys answer my questions." She tells me. "I've had enough run-ins with monsters."

"I wasn't asking." I tell her, setting my hand ablaze. 

She looks at me, and rolls her eyes very attractively. 

"Try again, guys." She sighs. "Fire won't work either, though I'm impressed. A fire user hasn't been born in a good long while." 

She turns back to Jason. "Again What are you doing here?"

"We're on a quest to rescue Hera. We're trying to track down the storm spirits that attacked us in the Grand Canyon. We followed them here. We need to give them to Aeolus in exchange for information." Jason shakes his head, as if in a daze. "How are you doing that?"