orenda [leo valdez]

xlvii. Tying the Goddess of Victory Up in a Horse Stall

❝pour yourself into me

and i will not let a drop of you hit the ground❞

⤷ rudy francisco

△△△

Kira was the first person to the group after they returned, leaping into Leo's arms. He just smiled, welcoming her into his arms. He spun her around, setting her down only after he heard her laugh.

Only after did she realize that they kidnapped Nike, the goddess of victory.

Kira had looked at Percy weird when she glanced at him, who was carrying the goddess in a net, but said nothing.

They decided threw her into a horse stall, which Kira didn't think was the best idea, but no one seemed to share her concern.

Kira and the rest of the group had gathered on the foredeck so Percy could keep an eye on the giant Red Sea serpent swimming off on the port side. Kira was leaned against Leo, who was manning the helm restlessly, and his face only cleared when Kira shot him a warm smile.

"That thing is really red," Percy muttered. "I wonder if it's cherry-flavoured."

"Why don't you swim over and find out?" Annabeth asked.

"How about no." Percy bickered.

"Anyway," Frank said, "according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in Sparta is my dad ... uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them."

"Poor dad." Kira said sarcastically.

Over the course of the quest, she had lost respect for her parents. She wouldn't pull a Luke Castellan (Annabeth had told her the story back at Camp Half Blood), but that didn't mean she was going to stick up for him.

"Oo-kay," Leo said. "The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we've got Victory tied up downstairs, so I guess we can't talk."

Jason leaned against the forward ballista. "On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"

"Piper, do you remember the visions you had in your dagger?" Hazel asked, but Piper was staring at her boyfriend, lost from the conversation. "Piper?" Kira smiled in amusement at Piper, whose mind was in another world.

She stirred. "Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you about the visions," Hazel prompted. "You told me you'd seen some stuff in your dagger blade?"

"Uh...right." Piper reluctantly unsheathed Katoptris. "I, um...I don't see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth, Kira, and I are exploring some ruins–"

"Ruins!" Leo rubbed his hands. "Now we're talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?"

Kira smacked his arm softly.