The Lost Hero

As they wobbled and zigzagged, Piper could make out details of the factory complex below—warehouses,
smokestacks, barbed-wire fences, and parking lots lined with snow-covered vehicles. They were still high
enough so that hitting the ground would flatten them into roadkill—or skykill—when Jason groaned, ―I can‘t—‖
And they dropped like stones.
They hit the roof of the largest warehouse and crashed through into darkness.
Unfortunately, Piper tried to land on her feet. Her feet didn‘t like that. Pain flared in her left ankle as she
crumpled against a cold metal surface.
For a few seconds she wasn‘t conscious of anything but pain—pain so bad that her ears rang and her
vision went red.
Then she heard Jason‘s voice somewhere below, echoing through the building. ―Piper! Where‘s Piper?‖
―Ow, bro!‖ Leo groaned. ―That‘s my back! I‘m not a sofa! Piper, where‘d you go?‖
―Here,‖ she managed, her voice a whimper.
She heard shuffling and grunting, then feet pounding on metal steps.
Her vision began to clear. She was on a metal catwalk that ringed the warehouse interior. Leo and Jason
had landed on ground level, and were now coming up the stairs toward her. She looked at her foot, and wave of
nausea swept over her. Her toes weren‘t supposed to point that way, were they?
Oh, god. She forced herself to look away before she threw up. Focus on something else. Anything else.
The hole they‘d made in the roof was a ragged starburst twenty feet above. How they‘d even survived that
drop, she had no idea. Hanging from the ceiling, a few electric bulbs flickered dimly, but they didn‘t do much to
light the enormous space. Next to Piper, the corrugated metal wall was emblazoned with a company logo, but it
was almost completely spray-painted over with graffiti. Down in the shadowy warehouse, she could make out
huge machines, robotic arms, half-finished trucks on an assembly line. The place looked like it had been
abandoned for years.
Jason and Leo reached her side.
Leo started to ask, ―You okay … ?‖ Then he saw her foot. ―Oh no, you‘re not.‖
―Thanks for the reassurance,‖ Piper groaned.
―You‘ll be fine,‖ Jason said, though Piper could hear the worry in his voice. ―Leo, you got any first aid
supplies?‖
―Yeah—yeah, sure.‖ He dug around in his tool belt and pulled out a wad of gauze and a roll of duct tape—
both of which seemed too big for the belt‘s pockets. Piper had noticed the tool belt yesterday morning, but she
hadn‘t thought to ask Leo about it. It didn‘t look like anything special—just one of those wraparound leather
aprons with a bunch of pockets, like a blacksmith or a carpenter might wear. And it seemed to be empty.
―How did you—‖ Piper tried to sit up, and winced. ―How did pull that stuff from an empty belt?‖
―Magic,‖ Leo said. ―Haven‘t figure it out completely, but I can summon just about any regular tool out of the
pockets, plus some other helpful stuff.‖ He reached into another pocket and pulled out a little tin box. ―Breath
mint?‖
Jason snatched away the mints. ―That‘s great, Leo. Now, can you fix her foot?‖
―I‘m a mechanic, man. Maybe if she was a car …‖ He snapped his fingers. ―Wait, what was that godly
healing stuffthey fed you at camp—Rambo food?‖
―Ambrosia, dummy,‖ Piper said through gritted teeth. ―There should be some in my bag, if it‘s not
crushed.‖
Jason carefully pulled her backpack off her shoulders. He rummaged through the supplies the Aphrodite
kids had packed for her, and found a Ziploc full of smashed pastry squares like lemon bars. He broke off a
piece and fed it to her.
The taste was nothing like she expected. It reminded her of Dad‘s black bean soup from when she was a
little girl. He used to feed it to her whenever she got sick. The memory relaxed her, though it made her sad. The
pain in her ankle subsided.
―More,‖ she said.
Jason frowned. ―Piper, we shouldn‘t risk it. They said too much could burn you up. I think I should try to
set your foot.‖
Piper‘s stomach fluttered. ―Have you ever done that before?‖
―Yeah … I think so.‖
Leo found an old piece of wood and broke it in half for a splint. Then he got the gauze and duct tape
ready.
―Hold her leg still,‖ Jason told him. ―Piper, this is going to hurt.‖
When Jason set the foot, Piper flinched so hard she punched Leo in the arm, and he yelled almost as
much as she did. When her vision cleared and she could breathe normally again, she found that her foot was
pointing the right way, her ankle splinted with plywood, gauze, and duct tape.
―Ow,‖ she said.