CHAPTER FIVE:
TRUST, IT'S A FICKLE THING

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NETTIE WAS SITTING ON the porch when Kit finally returned to their cabin. The others were already asleep judging by Nolan’s loud snores. But not Nettie. She sat on one of the wooden benches with a blank look in her eyes, fingers idly plaiting a piece of wavy auburn hair that fell down to their shoulder blades. All the Ares daughters had short hair for battle, but Nettie had always insisted on keeping their’s long. Something about her mother back in Germany. In all honesty, Kit hadn’t bothered to ask, and Nettie hadn’t gone out of her way to let anybody in but Dominique. She looked up as he appeared, nose wrinkling at his appearance, but they didn’t bother to ask what happened. In fact, Kit wasn’t expecting them to say anything at all, so he headed straight for the door -- that was, until a soft whisper caught his attention.

“Are you really going to go on that quest?”

Kit froze, fingers slipping away from the metal handle as he mulled over Nettie’s question. He didn’t know what to make of her tone, the sadness mixed with something harsh and cold. They were too young to fight when it came to the Battle of Manhattan. Chiron had insisted that she and Nolan sat out, much to their annoyance, but they’d heard enough to know the horrors that their siblings faced. Kit remembered the last conversation he had with Nettie like it was just yesterday, and the familiar aura of fear was striking as he wheeled around to look at them. Nettie’s fingers dropped away from her hair as she sighed.

“Well? Are you?”

He shrugged. “It’s not like I have much of a choice.” First Leo, now Nettie. 

“But it sounds like,” they hesitated, like saying the words out loud would speak them into existence. “It sounds like you’re going to die.”

Again, Kit shrugged, though Nettie didn’t miss the flash of something like panic in his eyes. Hades would have to drag him down to the Underworld kicking and screaming if he wanted Kit Dempsey to stay dead. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“Yes,” she exclaimed and stood abruptly. “Kit… You’re my brother. No matter what you’ve done, I don’t want you to die.”

For a moment, Kit just stood there. If there was anyone in the cabin even remotely like him, it was Nettie. He looked in their eyes and saw fire, endlessly burning. Maybe it was just the red hair, but for a brief instant, Kit and Nettie were connected by that flame. She was a sister worried for her brother, no matter how traitorous. In a sick way, wasn’t that what Kit always wanted? For his siblings to be there, regardless of bad blood spilled? Just as quickly as the feeling came, it vanished into smoke. Nettie’s shoulders tensed, their eyes averting from his as they brushed past him to disappear inside. 

And with the paranoia of other demigods peeking out of their cabins to judge him, Kit bowed his head and followed after her.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

BY SOME MIRACLE, LEO had found giant bronze wings and managed to attach them onto Festus’ body. Kit couldn’t believe his eyes when the dragon descended from the sky with Leo clinging to his back. He thought for sure he was imagining things from his lack of sleep, but the pure terror on the other campers’ faces indicated otherwise. Leo had done what Kit thought to be impossible, and despite the alarm ringing to signal danger and weapons pointed in his direction, he seemed mighty proud of himself.

“Don’t kill me,” he called out as the dragon touched down. “It’s cool. Don’t shoot.”

Nobody moved for a moment, but with a reproachful look from Leo, the archers slowly lowered their bows and the warriors backed away, though they kept their spears and swords ready as the dragon huffed and puffed at them. Like Kit, they blinked in disbelief as Leo clambered to the ground covered in even more muck than when Kit saw him last. It had dried to his skin like a layer of clothing, but it wasn’t a pretty sight. Neither was Festus, though Kit knew Leo would say otherwise.

And apparently, so would Piper.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed out from Kit’s side. At some point, she’d wandered over to him without him hearing, prompting him to flinch away from her in fright.

“Jesus christ,” he sighed, narrowing his eyes at her. “You and I have very different definitions of beautiful, McLean.”

Almost like he heard Kit’s insult, Festus hissed, rearing his head back to shoot a column of vibrant fire into the early morning sky. Weapons were raised once more, ready to attack had it not been for Leo throwing himself in front of his new pet like a human shield.

“People of Earth, I come in peace,” he shouted. Kit rolled his eyes, arms folded over his chest as everyone else murmured in disbelief. “Festus is just saying hello.”

“That thing is dangerous,” Nolan exclaimed as he and Andrew pushed through the crowd. Not far behind them was Nettie, Dominique and Jae. The former refused to meet Kit’s eyes as he frowned at her, staring stubbornly at Leo like the ground would swallow her whole if she had to see their brother’s face. Kit supposed he deserved that. They’d never speak about that night again. “Kill it now!

“Stand down,” someone ordered as they forced their way to the front of the crowd.

Kit’s eyes widened at the sight of Jason flanked by Annabeth and Nyssa. He marched past where he and Piper stood with what could only be authority. Forgotten memories aside, he was already making a place for himself amongst Camp Half-Blood’s elite. Kit gave a bitter sniff and clenched his fists against his ribs, arms still crossed. If Jason thought he could boss Kit around on this quest, he’d have to think again. Kit Dempsey would not take orders from someone who hadn’t even been there a day. 

“Leo, what have you done?” he heard the blonde boy demanding once he paused in front of Festus.

“I found a ride,” Leo beamed. “Well, Kit and I did. He wasn’t very helpful, but he was there.”

Kit sneered as Piper turned to him with a smirk. “Getting cosy with Leo, were you?” Of course that was the first thing the girl ever said to him.

“Cosy isn’t the word I’d use,” he retorted before their attention was caught by Leo continuing to ramble away.

“You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy, Jason. Festus can take us anywhere.”

“It has wings,” Nyssa breathed out in a strange combination of horror in awe. 

“Yeah,” Leo said. “I found them and reattached them.”

“But it never had wings. Where did you find them?”

Kit snickered as Leo obviously hesitated. Whatever trouble he’d gotten into after Kit left, he wasn’t prepared to announce it in front of the entire camp. “In… the woods,” he stammered. “Repaired the circuits, too -- well, mostly, so there’s no more problems with him going haywire.”

“Mostly?” Nyssa repeated with a skeptical huff. 

Again, almost like he could sense them discussing him, Festus’ head twitched and a stream of black liquid spurted from his ear and onto Leo. Kit wretched in disgust at the familiar rancid smell of oil and tabasco. That smell would forever remind him of the tortuous night he spent cooped up in the woods with Leo bloody Valdez.

“Just a few kinks to work out,” the boy in question chuckled nervously.

“But how did you survive…?” Nyssa continued, too curious for her own good. “I mean, the fire breath…”

“I didn’t realise taming the dragon would come with so many questions,” Kit grumbled just loud enough for the group to hear. Nyssa shot him a filthy glare, but was interrupted by Leo again.

“I’m quick,” he said, as if that explained everything. “And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?”

For a moment, Jason just stood in silence, scratching his head. “You named him Festus?” he asked eventually, repeating the name to himself with a hint of amusement in his voice. “You know that in Latin, festus means happy? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?”

“That’s what I said,” Kit grumbled. “This isn’t an episode of Dora the Explorer. The dragon doesn’t need a bloody name--”

“Well, he likes it, Christopher,” Leo grumbled as Festus twitched and shuddered. “Now, um, I’d really suggest we get going, guys. I already picked up some supplies in the… uh, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous.”

Jason immediately began to protest. “But we haven’t planned anything yet. We can’t just--”

“Jason, go,” Annabeth piped up, the first thing Kit had heard her say since she arrived. For a while, she’d just stood in silence, contemplating the state of Leo like he was a blueprint needing to be analysed. “Jason, you’ve only got three days until the Solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen, okay? So go.”

Jason nodded slowly, turning around to observe the crowd for Kit and Piper. When he found them together, he casted Kit a weary glance before grinning at the girl of their group. “You ready, partner?”

“You bet,” she beamed, allowing him to grasp her hand and guide her over to Festus’ back.

Kit stood away and watched as everyone moved to say their final goodbyes. At first, no one approached him, not even Annabeth. It was like Kit Dempsey was a ghost, mere mist in the sunlight, unworthy of acknowledgement. But as he heaved a sigh and stepped forward to mount the dragon after Leo, two people stepped into his path. Dominique and Jae. Over their shoulders, Kit spied Nolan, Andrew and Nettie leaving wordlessly. No goodbyes, not even a look back at him. It stung, but nothing could properly shock him anymore.

“We got this for you,” Dom said as she held a plain black bag out to him. Kit took it after a second’s contemplation, muttering a soft thank you as he checked to see what was inside. A plain black hoodie, a grey tee similar to the one he was already wearing beneath his leather jacket, and black jeans. Simple. Practical. Even now, they knew him. Underneath the clothes was a canteen of water, a tin of food Kit recognised from the kitchens and a plastic container of ambrosia squares. Kit nodded to himself before swinging the strap over one shoulder. It would have to do.

“And these,” Jae added curtly, refusing to meet his eyes as he held out the thin metallic bracelet that made up Kit’s trusted sword and three daggers. Now this, he was happier to see. He quickly attached the bracelet to his wrist and sheathed the daggers into place. One to a strap beneath his left sleeve, one at the waistband of his jeans and another tucked into the crevice of his boot. Now, he felt like himself.

“Thanks,” he mumbled again as he turned to his siblings once more. Jae just hummed before brushing past him, following in the direction of the others. Kit sighed before meeting Dom’s impassive eyes. At least she’d stayed for longer than a second. “I appreciate it, Dom.”

“We’re not completely heartless,” she shrugged.

Behind her, Jason yelled out, “Kit, you coming?”

“You should go,” she said, barely louder than a whisper. “You haven’t got much time to lose.”

“Right,” he nodded, adjusting his bag one last time before moving past her.

However, before he could leave her completely, Dominique reached out to grab hold of his wrist, squeezing once before letting go. “Stay safe, yeah?”

“I can’t make that promise.”

And with that, he was gone. He tried his best to shake off the feeling of her stare on his back as he reluctantly allowed Jason and Leo to help him up onto the upholstered back of Festus. Leo smirked as he was forced between him and Piper but said nothing as the camper’s called out their final farewells and Festus soared into the sky. Kit’s stomach dropped at the swooping sensation, face paling as he instinctively latched onto the back of Leo’s army jacket. Again, the younger boy grinned.

“Scared, Dempsey?” he cooed.

“Shut the fuck up.”

And away they went.

For a while, they just flew in silence. It was clear to Kit that Jason had no idea where to begin, and if he was a better man, he would’ve offered some advice. But Kit Dempsey was not a good man, and part of him found great satisfaction in the way that Jason huffed in annoyance to himself, surrounded by the endless gray expanse of his father’s domain and having no clue how to meet the expectations that came along with it.

“What if we get spotted?” Piper asked at the point where the quiet became too much to bear.

“We won’t,” Kit cut in before Jason could. “Not if the Mist does its job right.”

Piper frowned. “The Mist?”

“It’s what keeps mortals from seeing magic things,” Jason elaborated after a moment, eyes narrowed at Kit’s back. “If they spot us, they’ll probably mistake us for a small plane or something.”

“And you’re sure about that?”

“No,” he admitted with a sigh.

Kit’s smirk widened. “Well, I can be sure for the both of us.”

Jason went to retort heatedly but was interrupted by a nervously laughing Piper. “So, where are we heading?” A nice save, but it wouldn’t be long before Jason asked the one question Kit knew he wanted to. It was what all heroes like Jason Grace asked when they met a real life villain and were forced to work alongside him.

“To find the God of the North wind,” the blonde boy said. “And to chase some storm spirits.”

But he wasn’t done yet. He turned back to Kit as Piper mulled over his words, prompting the dark-haired boy to raise an expectant brow. Three, two, one…

“How do we know we can trust you?”

“Me?” Leo gasped, looking over his shoulder in confusion.

“Not you,” Jason rolled his eyes before jutting his jaw at Kit. “Him.”

“Of course we can trust Christopher,” Leo scoffed. 

“Christopher?” Piper frowned.

“Not my name,” Kit told her with a glare shot at Leo’s jaw. He didn’t so much as spare Jason a second glance. “It’s just taking Valdez a while to figure it out.”

“Oh, lighten up, Kit,” the boy in question chuckled. Now that, Kit found surprising. He wasn’t used to hearing his name from Leo’s mouth. It sounded foreign, but at least it wasn’t that god forsaken nickname.

“Guys, be serious for a second,” Jason snapped. Leo and Piper immediately went quiet, but not Kit.

“I don’t need you to trust me, blondie,” he sneered with just as much heat. “We just need to do what we have to do.”

“But--”

“For Hades’ sake, I know heroes like you think trust is the foundation of everything, but you’ll die quicker than I can blink if you go into this quest with that mindset.” The brutal honesty of Kit’s words stunned Jason into silence. It was blunt, to the point, and left no room for an argument. Kit didn’t want their trust, and he wasn’t willing to give his either. If Kit had his way, he wouldn’t be here, and he wasn’t going to waste his time on trivial bullshit like trust. “Look, Jason, I’m not going to stab you in your sleep or anything. Frankly, I don’t give two shits about you. I’m not going to sell you out to the nearest monster like you might’ve heard from Annabeth or someone else back at camp. If you don’t give me a reason to, then we’re fine. So stop looking at me like that. And never bring up fucking trust again.”’

This time, not even Piper wanted to break the silence. They welcomed it as Jason sat back without another word and Kit turned back to grasping Leo’s jacket. Not even he made a smart remark as he watched the way Kit’s eyes flared beneath the cool sun. He had a feeling that if he pushed him any further, he’d end up splattered across the pavement below. Not even Jason would reach him in time if Kit had his way.

But alas, it was Leo who spoke next. At first, it was quiet murmurs to himself that Kit was unable to make out. Then, he gripped his temples with a wince and shouted, “Shut up, me!”

“Gods, what drugs are you on?” Kit scoffed as Piper also voiced her confusion.

“Nothing,” Leo insisted, though neither of them believed him for a second. “Long night. I think I’m hallucinating. It’s cool.”

“It most definitely is not cool,” Kit exclaimed. “You’re the dragon driver here, Valdez, we don’t need you losing it this early on.”

“Relax, would you?” he rolled his eyes. “I was just joking.”

“I don’t believe you--”

“Anyways,” he interrupted pointedly. “Jason, what’s the plan? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?”

Kit pinched the bridge of his nose with an annoyed sigh, but was forced into silence as Jason laid out his attempt at a game plan. First things first, they needed to find Boreas and see what he knew.

“His name is Boreas?” Leo couldn’t resist his snicker. “What is he, the God of Boring?”

From there, they had to find the storm spirits that attacked Leo, Piper and Jason at the Grand Canyon. If Coach Hedge was going to be anywhere, he’d be with them.

“Can we just call them storm spirits?” Leo asked after the third time Jason addressed the monsters as venti. “Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks.”

“It’s also the Roman term,” Kit glowered. “You’re Greek, blondie, so start acting like it.”

Last, they’d have to find out who controlled the spirits in the first place, in order to find Hera and free her from whatever cage they’d trapped her in. Kit had to admit, he was excited to see the Queen of the Heavens locked up like a rabid dog. Of course, he didn’t get the chance to say so before Leo was being his usual Leo self.

“So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose,” he gasped. “The guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds.”

“He threw you down the Grand Canyon?” Kit smirked. “Sounds like he and I have something in common.”

“What, being traitors?” Leo asked. There was no malice to the joke, but nevertheless, it made Kit’s eyes narrow. Leo winced as the other boy’s hold tightened threateningly on his back. “It was just a joke, man. I wasn’t being serious--”

“Yeah, you better be joking.”

“That’s about it,” Jason cut in with an answer to Leo’s initial question. “Well, there may be a wolf involved too, but I think she’s friendly. She probably won’t eat us, unless we show weakness.”

“A wolf?” Kit echoed, distracted. “Gods, you keep some interesting friends, man.”

Jason just glared at him, again, before delving into the dream he’d had the night before. A nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool. Kit had never seen the place before, and he made sure to say as much when Leo asked him about it. So he turned his question onto Jason.

“Nope,” the blonde boy sighed. “No clue.”

“There’s also giants,” Piper added, rather unhelpfully, in Kit’s opinion. “The prophecy said the giants’ revenge.”

“Giants?” Leo groaned. “Like more than one? Why can’t it be just one giant who wants revenge?”

“It never works like that with demigods,” Kit scoffed. “All monsters want to kill you.”

“Oh, great.”

“You get used to it.”

“I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants,” Piper said, then looked to Kit like he’d know what she meant. Kit wracked his brains for a moment before shrugging. It wasn’t like he paid attention every time Annabeth went on about their history. It all blurred together after a while.

“Of course, with our luck, it’s an army,” Leo muttered. “So you know anything else about these giants? Didn’t you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?”

“You’re dad’s an actor?” Kit and Jason asked in unison. 

Leo snickered at the looks on their faces before addressing the latter. “I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia, that’s funny--”

“It really isn’t.”

“But yeah, her dad’s Tristan McLean.”

Kit was pretty sure he’d heard Drew and her sisters gushing about the man before. How amusing. Their new sibling was his daughter and yet they were an absolute bitch to her. Kit hoped Piper gave them hell for it.

“Anyways, the giants -- well, there were lots of them 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, and I think they were related to the Titans. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war -- I mean, the first Titan war, thousands of years ago -- and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we’re talking about the same giants--”

“Then we’re fucked,” Kit finished darkly. “Trust me, you don’t want to mess with giants.”

Trust me. How ironic.

“Chiron did say it was happening again,” Jason admitted. “The last chapter. That’s what he meant. No wonder he didn’t want us to know the details.”

Leo whistled under his breath, shifting at the front of Festus’ body and unintentionally leaning back into Kit. The older boy narrowed his eyes and pushed him away, though that didn’t seem to phase Leo as he winked at him. “So, giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha… Maybe this isn’t the time to bring up my psycho babysitter.”

“Of course you have a psycho babysitter,” Kit scoffed. “What next, an evil fairy godmother?”

“I can’t tell if you’re joking or not,” Piper added.

And so he told them about his Tia Callida, who was really Hera in disguise, and how she appeared to him at camp when Kit was showing him around. Suddenly, Leo’s questions about old ladies made sense, but Kit still clung to the belief that Leo was slightly bonkers. The boy finished with the story of how his mother died, and the strange woman in earthen robes, her eyes closed, who had seemed to know the future. It gave Kit the creeps, not that he’d ever admit it. Who was the Earth Woman, and why did he feel like he already knew her?

“That’s disturbing,” Piper mumbled at his back.

“Yeah, that about sums it up,” Leo nodded. “Thing is, everybody says not to 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?”

“She chose us,” Jason insisted. “All four of us. Yes, even you, Kit. We’re the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger. And besides, helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. 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 her--”

“Not a good trade-off,” Piper finished grimly. “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.”

“Nothing could be more destructive than the war,” Kit quietly disagreed. “You don’t know what you’re saying, McLean. You weren’t there.”

“Maybe not, but Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the Solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic -- something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day...”

Kit felt sick. From the corner of his eye, he caught the glint of Jason’s blonde hair and had to fight off a wretch as Luke’s face replaced his features. Would Luke follow him for the rest of his life, however long that life might've been? His almighty punishment dished out by the Furies; having taken the boy’s bait, he was tied to him for eternity. Even death might not be enough to escape him…

“....Dirt Woman fully awake?” Leo scoffed, jolting Kit from his thoughts as he shuffled into his space again. “Not something I want to see.”

“But who is she?” Jason pressed. Kit had the sense he felt it too, the knowledge just out of reach. “And what does she have to do with giants?”

All eyes went to the experienced one in their group. Kit flushed, glowering as he stubbornly turned away. Luke’s figure appeared again, this time sitting on the edge of a passing building with blood spilling from a wound on his chest, and Kit forced his face between Leo’s shoulder blades. He’d deal with the teasing later. At least in the darkness, Luke couldn’t appear.

“I’m going to sleep,” he grumbled, stubbornly ignoring the way Leo’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Don’t wake me up unless someone is dying.”

For a while, the land of the living refused to set him free. Kit just sat with his eyes closed, listening to the faint mutters of the others before Leo eventually dozed against him and Piper fell asleep on his own back. Jason was the only one awake eventually, but even then Kit refused to move. He just sat, waiting, every breath a fight to swallow down.

And at some point, the Gods took pity and sleep took him away.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

A/N: Just a disclaimer in case anyone was confused, Nettie's pronouns are she/they. More to come on their backstory, as well as the backstories of the other Ares children. Thanks for reading :)