Daughter of Wine

Callida

It doesn't take us long to figure out where we are. The menus say "Cafe Verve, Walnut Creek, CA." And according to our waitress, it's 9 A.M. on December 21st, the winter solstice. That gives us three hours to meet Enceladus's deadline. 

We don't have to wonder where Mount Diablo is either. It's right at the end of the street. After being up on Pikes Peak, Mount Diablo doesn't look incredibly big. It almost seems peaceful. Hard to imagine there's a big angry giant holding Piper's dad hostage up there. 

Leo pulls something out of his pocket. It's the old crayon drawing that Aeolus gave him. I reach into my own pocket and feel the note I wrote so many years ago. 

"What is that?" Piper asks Leo. 

Leo folds it up gingerly and puts it away. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork."

"It's more than that." Jason guesses. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success." 

Leo shakes his head. "Not today. He was talking about... later." 

"How can you be sure?" She asks him. 

I don't question it. I had forgotten about that letter I wrote when I was seven. But thinking about it now sends chills down my spine. That's meant for later too. 

"Trust me." Leo tells Piper. "Now, what's our game plan?"

Coach Hedge belches. He's already had three espressos and a plate of donuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silverware, but Piper slaps his hand away. "Climb the mountain." He says. "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave." 

"Thank you, General Eisenhower." Jason grumbles. 

"Hey, I'm just saying!" 

"Guys." I sit up. "There's more you need to know." I tell them about the dream I had, about the vineyard. I tell them what my dad said about the Earth Mother rising. 

"Gaea?" Leo shakes his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry." 

"Leo, that's Snow White." Piper tells him pointedly. 

"Okay, but-"

"Listen, cupcake." Coach Hedge dabs the espresso out of his goatee. "Calli's telling us some serious stuff here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not sure I could take her."

Leo whistles. "Really?"

I clear my throat. "This earth lady, she and her old man were nasty customers." 

"Ouranos." Piper agrees. She glances up at the sky nervously. 

"Right." I nod. "So, Ouranos, he wasn't the best dad. He threw their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she waits and bides her time. Then they have another set of kids, the twelve Titans. And Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into Tartarus too, so she goes to her son Kronos-"

"The big bad dude." Leo remembers. "The one you guys defeated last summer." 

"Yeah." My gut aches where I got stabbed. "And Gaea is the one who gives him his scythe, and tells him, 'Hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can chop him up into pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn't that be great?'"

Nobody says anything. Piper stares at her scone glumly. "Definitely not Snow White." 

"Nah, Kronos was a bad guy." Hedge says. "But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She's so old and powerful, so huge-"

"That when she walks in the room, everyone yells 'Hey Kool Aid!'?" I blurt out. 

Leo laughs, but everyone else gives me a dirty look. 

"-so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious." Hedge continues. "Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her. Snoring." 

"But she talked to me. And to Calli." Leo insists. "How can she be asleep? 

Gleeson brushes the crumbs off of his lapel. He's on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils are as big as quarters. "Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active... dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to erupt and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake." 

"But she's getting more powerful." Piper adds. "She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back, this guy Porphyrion-"

"He'll raise an army to destroy the gods." Jason puts in. "Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully." 

Gleeson nods. "Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible."

I glance warily up Mount Diablo. "So... climbing a mountain. That would be bad." 

Piper's expression falls. "Guys, I can't ask you to do this. This is too dangerous."

"You kidding?" Gleeson belches and shows us his blue carnation smile. "Who's ready to beat stuff up?"

I can't help but agree. That note in my pocket feels heavy with meaning. I'm ready to beat stuff up big-time.