Mom Gives Her Silliest Battles to Her Most Tragic Clowns

                                    

                                          
Boreas is like a scary Santa with purple wings. He likes her and Piper because they're aphrodites and can talk French with no problems. 
Ara wants to like him, but he's got orders to kill them, so he's not such a fun guy. All this talk about gods wanting to exterminate half-bloods is old news, but then the god changes when he sees Jason's tattoo, and he becomes his Roman version.
"My dear," Boreas says happily, "there is no reason for me to kill you. If Hera's plan fails, which I think it will, you will tear each other apart. Aeolus will never have to worry about demigods again."
"I don't suppose you could explain?" Jason asks.
 "Oh, perish the thought! It is not for me to interfere in Hera's plan. No wonder she took your memory. You know, I have a reputation as a helpful wind god. Unlike my brethren, I've been known to fall in love with mortals. Why, my sons Zethes and Calais started as demigods—"
"Which explains why they are idiots."
"Stop it! Just because you were born a full goddess—"
 "Both of you, freeze. Now, as I was saying, I have a good reputation, but it is rare that Boreas plays an important role in the affairs of gods. I sit here in my palace, at the edge of civilization, and so rarely have amusements. Why, even that fool Notus, the South Wind, gets spring break in Cancún. What do I get? A winter festival with naked Québécois rolling around in the snow!"
"I like the winter festival," Zethes mumbles.
"My point is that I now have a chance to be the center. Oh, yes, I will let you go on this quest. You will find your storm spirits in the windy city, of course. Chicago—"
"Father!" Khione cries, but the god is unbothered by her.
"If you can capture the winds, you may be able to gain safe entrance to the court of Aeolus. If by some miracle you succeed, be sure to tell him you captured the winds on my orders."
"Okay, sure," Jason shrugs. "So Chicago is where we'll find this lady who's controlling the winds? She's the one who's trapped Hera?" 
"Ah... Those are two different questions, son of Jupiter."
Ara notices he's using Roman names now. Chiron said Jason doesn't belong in her camp. A scary thought comes to her as she glances down at his tattoo: there are more like him.
***
Lily's got a fascination with the Underworld, her grandmother taught her to respect the dead and the deity that looks after them. I met Hades last summer, and she got really talkative after she found out, showed me some collectible cards, and we play with them when none of us is training.
Lily's quiet, but only because she's got this accent that slips out when she gets excited about things. I said some of the swear words she uses and Silena told me that's Italian. My friend also has dark hair and is a bit too grumpy, which explains why most campers think she's a daughter of Hades.
Lily's sneaky, that's true, but so are the Stolls. I've been to the Underworld, and she doesn't feel like it. "If she were," Travis says, "someone would've sent something to get rid of her."
"That's true," I sigh. "Lily hasn't shown any death-related powers either. I mean, she's crazy good at stabbing but she also likes archery!"
"She's a little scary," Travis admits, the lock he's been trying to open snaps and he closes it, handing it to me.
"Not that scary," Connor replies. I didn't know he was listening. "You shouldn't scare Ara, she's gonna think it's no good to be nice."