CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:
SKY HIGH

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

KIT KNEW FOR CERTAIN THEY were up shit's creek when Leo almost plummeted to his death. Again. The second the oblivious boy wandered too close to the chasm located in the very centre of Aeolus' prison -- sorry, fortress -- Kit's hand shot out almost instinctively. His fingers curled around Leo's shirt and yanked him back by the scruff of the neck. And not a moment too soon. If he'd been just a second late in his reaction, Leo would've gone splat into the heart of the mountain.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" he hissed into the shorter boy's ear as Leo smiled sheepishly. "Jesus, Valdez, you're a walking hazard."

"Hey," Leo frowned at the insult. "That's rude."

"Good. I was trying to be."

"Can you do this another time?" Jason huffed, gesturing to where Mellie was hovering yards away, watching them in a combination of curiosity and wariness. "We have company."

"Right," Leo mumbled before tugging away from Kit and following after Jason. "You know, Mellie, a little warning would be great next time!"

"You're planning to come back here, Leo?" Kit raised an eyebrow at the back of Leo's head.

"Maybe," Leo retorted, though he was quick to falter when Mellie zoomed towards him searching the folds of her robes for something. She came to a stop in front of the two boys with a walkie-talkie clutched in her hand. Muttering a wide-eyed apology to Leo, she said into the device, "Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks!"

Before Kit or Leo could question her, a flurry of movement came from the pit as an army of harpies rose like a cloud of smoke. They moved so quickly that Kit couldn't possibly keep track of them, though in the chaos he was almost certain he saw a hammer and other building materials clutched in their taloned hands. A literal second later, a makeshift floor snaked over the chasm, held together by a combination of plywood, carpet squares, wedges of grass, and Kit's personal favourite, duct tape.

"That can't be safe," Jason argued with a pointed look at Mellie.

But Mellie merely waved away his concerns. "Oh, it is," she insisted, smiling dreamily at him. "The harpies are very good."

With that, she flew out across this new floor, turning back to hurry them along when no one made a move to join her. Kit took an immediate step back, spitting out a 'not it' that was quickly echoed by Leo then Piper. Jason scowled at them, prompting Kit to smirk widely. "Go on, Superman," he cooed. "Take one for the team."

Sadly, Jason did not fall to his death. At least not straight away. The floor seemed to hold his weight, which encouraged Piper to follow him. "If I fall, you're catching me," she murmured as she reached for his hand. "Okay?"

"Uh, sure," Jason blushed, to which Kit rolled his eyes.

"I'd rather fall to my death than listen to you two flirting," he grumbled at the same time as Leo said, "You're catching me, too Superman. And Kit. Don't listen to him. But we're not holding your hand."

Mellie lead them to the other side of the chamber. There, a man hovered with his back to them. He stared up at a series of panels showcasing monitors with messages and videos blinking across them. He didn't turn around even when Leo started marvelling at different objects. When he did move, it was to murmur words into an earpiece hooked over the curve of his ear. At one point, he held a remote up to one of the screens and changed the picture from a series of codes to a video of two demigods slaying a monster.

"Well, that's not disturbing at all," Kit commented under his breath. "You know, guys, it's not too late to turn back. He hasn't seen us yet."

"He doesn't look so bad," Leo argued, sounding foolishly naive as he took in the man's attire of a classy business suit.

Kit scoffed, rolling his eyes, "You said that about Medea, too."

"We all have our moments."

Mellie floated towards Aeolus wearing a pleasantly dazed smile. "Ah, sir, Mr Aeolus, these demigods--"

She was quickly silenced by Aeolus raising his hand up in front of her face. "Hold it," he commanded, to which Mellie's cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "Just watch."

For a long moment, the group stood in pensive silence, staring at one of the screens, this one showcasing a Jeep driving straight into a tornado and getting tossed sky-high. Aeolus shrieked with delight, the sound sharp and grating on Kit's nerves. He scowled as the wind God gasped out, "Ah, the Disaster Channel. People do that on purpose! Isn't that amazing? Let's watch it again."

"Um, sir," Mellie began with a nervous wave in Jason's direction. "This is Jason, son of--"

"Yes, yes, I remember," Aeolus interrupted her carelessly. Still without looking at any of them, he addressed Jason, "You're back, I see. How did it go?"

Jason hesitated, brows furrowing into a wary frown. "Sorry? I think you've mistaken me--"

At last, Aeolus whirled around to face him. "No, no, Jason Grace, aren't you? It was, what, just last year? You were on your way to fight a sea monster, I believe."

Kit had already known Jason was familiar to the demigod world, but the revelation hit him once again along with the rest of them. For a second, the four teens stood in stunned silence, allowing his words to wash over them before Jason breathed out anxiously, "I... I don't remember."

He scowled as Aeolus laughed. "Must not have been a very good monster! No, I remember every hero who's ever come to me for aid. Odysseus -- Gods, he docked at my island for a month. At least you only stayed for a few days. Now, watch this video, Jason Grace. These ducks get sucked straight into--"

"Sir," Mellie interrupted with a pointed wave of her wrist-watch. "Two minutes to air."

Aeolus' eyes lit up in delight. "Air! Oh, I love air. How do I look? Makeup!"

Much like the chasm from before, a whirlwind of movement spun around Aeolus' expectant face. Kit and the others were forced to take a step back as a tornado of brushes and cotton balls blurred across the God's face in a cloud of makeup molecules. Wind curled his hair to just the right angle, giving him what Kit supposed was an effortless look -- well, for a God. Jason had to fight his way through the chaos, hefting their golden bag over his shoulder in the hopes it would capture Aeolus' attention even for a second.

"Mr Aeolus, we brought you these rogue storm spirits."

"Did you?" Aeolus hummed with a forced smile. "Well, how nice."

With a nudge from Leo and a cough from Kit, Jason held the bag towards him. After a clear second of hesitation, Aeolus accepted it. "Boreas sent us to capture them for you," Jason explained. "We hope you'll accept them and stop... well, you know... ordering demigods to be killed."

Aeolus threw his head back in another burst of laughter. "Demigods be killed?" he echoed, turning to Mellie for clarification. "Did I order that?"

Mellie nodded, ever so patient, like she was addressing a toddler rather than a man who looked to be bordering on sixty -- in human years. "Yes, sir, on the fifteenth of September. 'Storm spirits released by the death of Typhon, demigods to be held responsible.' So yes, a general order for them all to be killed."

"Oh, pish," Aeolus sighed. "I was just grumpy. Rescind that order, Mellie, and -- who's on guard duty again? Teriyaki? -- Teri, take these storm spirits down to cell block Fourteen E, would you?"

A harpy, Teriyaki, swooped down from the bannisters above their heads, snatching the bag from Aeolus' dismissive hands before taking off into the abyss. He was gone within seconds, allowing the God to turn his smile back towards Jason.

"Now, sorry about that kill-on-sight business. But Gods, I really was mad, wasn't I?" In a blink, his face went slank, a shadow casted over his eyes. It made Kit's stomach twist with unease -- well, more so than usual. "You know, I remember now. Almost seemed like a voice was telling me to give that order. A little cold tingle on the back of my neck."

And that just made Kit feel worse. It had to be Dirt Woman. There was no other explanation for it. On one side of him, Leo's eyes went wide while Jason tensed on the other. "A... a voice in your head, sir?"

"Yes," Aeolus confirmed with a nod. "How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?"

"No, sir," she sighed, shooting them an apologetic look when Kit glowered and the rest gasped in fear. "They just brought us the storm spirits, which makes everything alright."

"Oh, of course, sorry," he chuckled like they were merely discussing the weather. "Mellie, let's send the demigods something nice. A box of chocolates, perhaps?"

"A box of chocolates to every demigod in the world, sir?" Mellie frowned, uncertain of his request.

"No, too expensive, never mind," he was quick to shake his head. With a glimpse at his own watch, Aeolus gasped. "Oh, wait, it's time! I'm on!"

Before they could stop him, he flew to where a blue curtain had been hung as a backdrop for some kind of studio. In front of the drape, a large white desk was spread out before a camera. Aeolus snatched up a series of papers from it, quickly scanning the printed information before nodding to himself. It was like Kit and the others had never been there in the first place.

"Mellie, is he... always like that?" Jason questioned the sheepish harpy.

"Well, you know what they say. If you don't like his moods, just wait five minutes. That expression -- 'whichever way the wind blows' -- that was based on him."

"Of course it was," Kit mumbled at the same time as Jason asked, "And that thing about the sea monster... was I here before?"

Mellie's face suddenly went rosy. "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I'm Mr Aeolus' new assistant. I've been with him longer than most, but still... not that long."

Kit found himself frowning warily. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, I've been doing this for... twelve hours?"

"Well, fuck," the Ares boy cursed. He rounded on the others with a pointed glare. "I knew this guy was bad news. And you idiots didn't believe me."

Jason's jaw clenched, but he didn't have the chance to argue before Aeolus' voice drowned him out. "And now, the weather every twelve minutes! He's your forecaster for Olympian Weather -- the OW! Channel -- it's Aeolus!"

Kit squinted as blinding white light flashed above their heads. It was like the roof had opened up to the heavens, but rather it was a series of spotlights designed to highlight Aeolus' dazzling white smile and perfectly ironed suit.

"Hello, Olympus! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve," he repeated his previous words. Without needing to look at the script in his hands, he listed off his newest announcements. "We'll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers! Along the eastern seaboard -- oh, hold on." He turned and tapped his earpiece, a tiny crackle buzzing through the studio before his easy smile returned. "Sorry, folks! Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on! Sorry, Demeter. Over in the Midwest, I'm not sure what Saint Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect Winter storms! Boreas himself is being called down to punish the area with ice. Bad news, Missouri! No, wait. Hephaestus feels sorry for central Missouri, so you all will have much more moderate temperatures and sunny skies."

There was so much information coming at them at once that Kit began to tune Aeolus out. He stared boredly around the chamber, absentmindedly searching the pockets of Leo's jacket for something to entertain his mind. He ended up finding a stray pipe cleaner stem, twisting the purple material into the shape of an arrow. Leo caught what he was doing and grinned, reaching out to take it from him when Jason interrupted.

"Guys, this can't be right," he hissed, glowering pointedly at where Leo's hands had paused around Kit's. "Weather isn't this random."

"And how often are the mortal weathermen right?" Mellie smirked. "They talk about fronts and air pressure and moisture, but the weather surprises them all the time. At least Aeolus tells us why it's so unpredictable. A very hard job, trying to appease all the Gods at once. It's enough to drive anyone..."

Absolutely bonkers. Well, now Aeolus' behaviour made a lot of sense. He had the Gods chattering away in his ears at all hours of the day. Kit almost pitied him. Almost.

"And that's the weather," the man of the hour concluded with another grin. "See you in twelve minutes, because I'm sure it'll change!"

With that, the lights shut off and the camera panned away from Aeolus' face. The second the monitors began to display a Gladiator match, the God's smile dropped to a look of pure exhaustion. He tugged at the earpiece, looking ready to pitch it into the chasm beneath them, when he recalled the guests standing just a few metres away. His smile returned with eerie ease.

"So, you brought me some rogue storm spirits," he hummed, beginning to float towards them again. "I suppose... thanks! And did you want something else? I assume so. Demigods always do, you know..."

Mellie cast an odd look at Jason, then at the sky, like she expected Zeus to strike down Aeolus where he stood. "Um, sir, this is Zeus' son," she tried her best to remind him gently.

"Yes, yes, I know that," Aeolus huffed. "I said I remembered him from before."

"But, sir, they're here from Olympus..."

Before they had the chance to correct her, Aeolus straightened with a look of pure delight spread across his face. He let out a cackle of a laugh then, taking an eager step towards a wide-eyed Jason. "You mean you're here on behalf of your father this time?" he said despite Jason shaking his head. "Finally! I knew they would send someone to renegotiate my contract."

"Um... what?"

But Jason's confusion didn't deter the wind God, not like it did Mellie, who froze like a deer in the headlights. "It's been what, three thousand years since Zeus made me master of the winds," her boss was busy explaining. "Not that I'm ungrateful, of course! But really, my contract is so... so vague. Obviously, I'm immortal, but 'master of the winds?' What does that even mean? Am I a nature spirit? A demigod? A God? I want to be God of the winds, because the benefits are so much better. So, how about it, Jason Grace? Can we start with that?"

Kit, Leo and Piper all turned to Jason, wondering just how he was going to talk his way out of this one. When Jason merely stared back at them in panic, Leo took one for the team.

"Dude, you think we're here to promote you?"

Which, really, was the wrong thing to say. Now Aeolus actually had hope. "You are, then?" he cried. "Marvellous! I mean, I think I've shown quite a bit of initiative with the weather channel, eh? And of course I'm in the press all the time. So many books have been written about me, you know. There's Into Thin Air, Up in the Air, Gone with the Wind..."

Kit snorted, fully prepared to bruise this guy's ego. "Mate, I hate to break it to you, but none of those are about you. I don't think anyone's even heard of you unless they need something from you--"

"Nonsense," Aeolus scoffed, oblivious to Mellie's violent head-shake warning Kit to stop while he still could. "Mellie, they're biographies of me, aren't they?"

"Oh, absolutely, sir."

"There, you see?" he shot at Kit. "I don't read. Who has the time, really? But obviously the mortals love me." With that, he turned back to Jason, who struggled to hide his wince. "So, we'll change my official title to God of the Winds--" Really, Kit hadn't even realised he wasn't the God, he'd just kind of assumed... "Then, about salary and staff--"

"Wait, sir," Jason interrupted, deciding to just bite the bullet before it could get any worse. "We're not from Olympus."

Aeolus blinked. At once, all his glee disappeared.

"I'm the son of Zeus, yes," Jason said when Aeolus said nothing. "But we're not here to negotiate your contract. We're on a quest and we need your help."

Like lightning striking, Aeolus' expression went slack, then thunderous. "Like last time, eh? Like every hero who comes here? Demigods! It's always about you, isn't it?"

"Well, I wouldn't say always," Kit argued, huffing when Leo nudged him in the ribs.

"Sir, please, I don't remember the last time," Jason insisted, trying his best to placate Aeolus' sudden pacing. "But if you helped me once before--"

"I'm always helping," Aeolus scoffed. "Well, sometimes I'm destroying, but mostly I'm helping, and sometimes I'm asked to do both at the same time! Why, Aeneas, the first of your kind--"

"My kind?" Jason blinked at him, sharing a wary look with his friends. "You mean demigods?"

"Oh, please," he grumbled. "I mean your line of demigods. You know, Aeneas, son of Venus, the only surviving hero of Troy. When the Greeks burned down his city, he escaped to Italy, where he founded the kingdom that would eventually become Rome... and so on. That's what I meant."

Kit felt like he'd been sucker-punched, even when Jason admitted sheepishly, "I don't get it." He found himself losing his cool for an instant, then quickly thought 'what would Annabeth do?' Honestly? There was no right answer. She'd probably lose her shit, too.

"The point being, I was thrown in the middle of that conflict, too!" Aeolus snapped almost childishly. "Juno calls up: 'Oh, Aeolus, destroy Aeneas's ships for me. I don't like him.' Then Neptune says, 'No, you don't! That's my territory. Calm the winds.' Then Juno is like, 'No, wreck his ships, or I'll tell Jupiter you're uncooperative!' Do you think it's easy juggling requests like that?"

"No," Jason murmured with a sigh. "No, I guess not."

"And don't get me started on Amelia Earhart," he continued like Jason hadn't spoken. "I'm still getting angry calls from Olympus about knocking her out of the sky!"

"We just want information," Piper found her voice, charmspeak oozing from every word. It seemed to work, too, for Aeolus immediately calmed down. Unlike Medea and Midas, who knew it well enough to recognise it, Aeolus seemed oblivious to Piper's gift. Or perhaps he didn't mind the moment of peace away from the Gods' incessant messages. "We hear you know everything."

"Well... that is true, of course," he nodded beseechingly. "For instance, I know that this business here, this harebrained scheme of Juno's to bring you all together, is likely to end in bloodshed." His eyes immediately shot to Kit, and Kit sighed, preparing for it. "You'll be at the heart of it, of course. Kit Dempsey, son of Ares. You look nothing like your mother, you know. You're all your father. Here. See for yourself." Before Kit could stop him, Aeolus snapped his fingers and a gust of wind blew a hazy photograph into Kit's hands. The others curiously peered over his shoulders, pausing when the faces of a teenage Mama Dempsey, who couldn't have been older than twenty, and someone who was quite obviously Ares stared back at them. "Now, as for you, Piper McLean..."

Kit didn't hear the rest of it. He was too busy staring at Ares -- well, who his dad had chosen to be when Kit's mother fell in love with him. He looked just like Kit, right down to the dark, wavy hair and the glowering eyes. He wore a thick leather jacket, a pair of tight-fitting jeans hanging from his hips as he curled an arm around Mama Dempsey's shoulders. She looked young, with fair hair and a soft smile, barely reaching Ares' chin. Nothing like the corpse Kit remembered her as.

"Kit?" a gentle hand ghosted over his shoulder. Leo. "Hey, you good, man?"

When Kit turned to look at him, he had a crayon drawing clutched in his hands. He quickly stuffed the picture away when Kit held out the photo. "That's my mum," he murmured, voice mostly drowned out by Piper and Jason's conversation with Aeolus. With his heart caught in his throat, he couldn't help it when he admitted, "She would've liked you."

Leo smiled, and it took all of Kit not to fall right then and there. "I think Aeolus is wrong," he said, careful not to let the God in question hear him. "I think you look like your mum, too. More than Ares."

It was a nice thought, but an obvious lie. Still, Kit had to smother a smile as he carefully folded up the photo and tucked it away for another day.

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous."

"We need to find the lair of Enceladus."

Aeolus's smile almost immediately dropped. "The giant? Why would you want to go there? He's horrible! He doesn't even watch my program!"

Piper held up the photo Aeolus had given her. "Aeolus, he's got my father," she exclaimed. "We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive."

"Now, that's impossible," Aeolus sighed. "Even I can't see that, and believe me, I've tried. There's a veil of magic over Hera's location. Very strong, impossible to locate."

Just their luck

"She's at a place called the Wolf House," Jason said desperately.

"Okay, hold on," Aeolus demanded, putting a hand to his forehead and closing his eyes. He made a humming sound, zoning out beneath their disbelieving stares. "I'm getting something! Ah, yes! She's at a place called the Wolf House. Sadly, I don't know where that is."

"Great," Kit sighed, but Piper wasn't as quick to give up.

"Enceladus does. If you help us find him, we could get the location of the Goddess--"

"Yeah," Leo added, his voice still soft from his moment with Kit. "And if we save her, she'd be really grateful to you."

"And Zeus might promote you," Jason said.

"Maybe," Kit couldn't resist saying when the three of them peered at him for help. "I doubt it, because it's Zeus, but if that's what convinces you..."

"You're terrible at this," Leo sighed, but Aeolus didn't seem to think so.

"A promotion," he echoed Jason's words. "And all you want from me is the giant's location?"

"Well, if you could get us there, too," Jason said with a sheepish grin. "That would be great."

While Aeolus gave it some thought, Mellie bounced around in obvious excitement. "Oh, he could do that," she assured Jason. "He often sends helpful winds--"

"Mellie, be quiet," Aeolus scowled at her. "I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretences."

Mellie's face dropped, her happiness bleeding out of her. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Hey, it wasn't her fault," Jason couldn't resist being Mellie's knight in shining armour. "But about that help..."

Aeolus was quiet for a moment, his earpiece crackling with faint voices. Kit could barely make them out, but whatever they said seemed to be swaying Aeolus. "Well, Zeus approves. He says ... he says it would be better if you could avoid saving her until after the weekend, because he has a big party planned -- Ow! That's Aphrodite yelling at him, reminding him that the solstice starts at dawn. She says I should help you. And Hephaestus... yes. Hmm. Very rarely do they agree on anything. Now hold on ... well, now, Ares doesn't seem to care very much, and – oh, yikes. He asked which son is on the quest again..."

Kit rolled his eyes, ignoring his friends' eyes on the side of his face as he grumbled, "Tell the bastard it's Kit. Or don't. That might turn him against us."

Whatever Ares said in response fell on deaf ears when Coach Hedge came waddling into the chamber with grass stains on his face. Mellie almost immediately brightened at the sight of him, twirling a strand of her hair around a taloned finger. "Who is that?" she sighed dreamily.

"That? Oh, that's just Coach Hedge -- uh, I mean, Gleeson Hedge, he's our... our guide?" Jason told her.

"He's so... goatly."

"Ugh," Kit groaned in disgust. "Bring back dear ol' dad. I don't wanna hear this shit."

"I think it's cute," Leo argued.

"Of course you do. Freak."

"What's up, guys?" Hedge came trotting over to them. "Wow, this is a nice place. Oh! Sod squares..."

"Coach, you just ate," Jason reminded him with a pointed sigh. "And we're using the sod as a floor. This is, ah, Mellie--"

"An aura." Hedge smirked, looking Mellie up and down in a way that Kit assumed was meant to be charming. "Beautiful as a Summer breeze."

Mellie blushed. Both Kit and Piper pretended to vomit on each other.

"And Aeolus was just about to help us," Jason added as the icing on the cake.

"Yes," the God in question muttered, his face carefully indifferent. "It seems so. You'll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo."

"Devil Mountain?" Leo winced. "Well, that doesn't sound good."

"I remember that place!" Piper suddenly gasped, eyes widening with realisation. "I went there once with my dad. It's just east of San Francisco Bay."

"The Bay Area again?" Hedge shook his head. "Not good. Not good at all."

"Now..." Aeolus began to smile. He seemed eager to hurry them along. "As to getting you there--"

The change happened so suddenly. One moment, he was smiling. The next, he was ripping off his earpiece like the technology had burned him. His eyes went wild with terror, and something akin to devotion.

"She hasn't spoken to me for centuries," he whispered, sounding breathless, like he'd just ran a marathon. "I can't... yes, yes. I understand." He turned back to face them then, and Kit knew. "I'm sorry, son of Jupiter, but I have new orders. You all have to die."

Of fucking course.

For a long moment, no one knew what to say. Kit was nodding to himself, reaching for his sword, while the others took in the information in sheer disbelief. After a while, it was Mellie who spoke up, her voice a mere squeak that would've gone unnoticed had it not been deathly silent.

"But sir," she protested. "Zeus said to help them. Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Ares--"

"Mellie, your job is already on the line," Aeolus cut her off with a glare. "Besides, there are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the Gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature."

"Whose orders?" Jason demanded, though he, like Kit, had a feeling he already knew. "Zeus will fire you if you don't help us!"

"I doubt it," Aeolus flicked his wrist in an easy, dismissive gesture. Below them, metal shreaked and storm spirits roared, spiralling towards them with a hunger for blood. "Even Zeus understands the order of things. And if she is waking... well, by all the gods, she cannot be denied. Now good-bye, heroes. I'm terribly sorry, but I'll have to make this quick. I'm back on the air in four minutes."

Kit unsheathed his sword, closely followed by Jason summoning his own weapon. The two stood at the edge of the yawning pit, shielding Leo and Piper as the spirits got closer and closer. Just as they were hit with the hurricane force, shattering the ground to pieces, Mellie gave a shout and hurtled towards them. Her robes spread out like a make-shift floor, the spirits pelting off them as she turned her attention towards a shocked Jason and Kit.

"Mellie, you are so fired," Aeolus screamed just as the robes gave way and the group began to descend. Kit's stomach lurched with the action, threatening to empty its contents.

"Quick," he heard Mellie shout. "Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?"

"A little..."

"Then help me, or you're all dead." With that, she grabbed his hand, then gestured the others over.

Reaching for Piper's hand with his spare one, Jason shouted, "Okay, guys, quickly! Group hug!"

"Ugh, do I have to?" Kit sighed, but he was quickly silenced by Leo's arms stubbornly wrapping around his torso. "Guess I do..."

The further they descended, the harder it was to fight off the wind and the spirits chasing them down. "Bring it on, gas bags!" Kit heard Gleeon's voice echo through the chasm. "I'll pulverise you!"

"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed.

"Concentrate?" Jason prompted.

"Right!"

Kit had no idea what they were doing, but what he did know was the pain of the impact. They tumbled out of the nearest open chute, slamming into the tunnel at a speed that knocked the breath out of his lungs. Then they went rolling down a vent too narrow for six bodies, with no way of stopping or slowing down, and Kit's whole world shifted.

"Can't... hold... long," he heard Mellie warn them. "Just stay together! When the winds hit..."

"You're doing great, Mellie," Hedge encouraged her. "My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn't have done better herself."

"Iris-message me?" Mellie giggled.

Hedge winked.

"Could you guys plan your date later?" Piper screamed from where she was clinging to Jason's back. "Look!"

Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark as more and more spirits appeared. Kit, finally, returned Leo's hug, one arm clutching the boy's shoulders as Leo's forehead pressed against his neck, the shorter boy murmuring terrified curses that were lost to Kit's ears.

"Can't hold them," Mellie cried as the space between them decreased at a rapid pace. "But I'll try to shield you, do you one more favour."

"Thanks, Mellie," Jason squeezed her hand. "I hope you get a new job."

She smiled just as she dissolved into mist. Kit knew the second the winds hit again, he'd lose all control of his body. Still, the agony of his consciousness slowly slipping away before all air and feeling left his limbs was a sensation he was sure he'd never forget.

He was out by the time they reached the sky.