XXXVIII JASON

Jason, Piper, Leo, and Mellie enter Aeolus’s cavernous studio above a bottomless pit. Harpies hastily assemble a precarious floor, and the group approaches Aeolus amid floating monitors. Aeolus, manic and distracted, rescinds his prior kill-on-sight order for demigods when presented with the captured storm spirits, then launches into his weather broadcast, revealing the gods constantly alter conditions.

Off-air, Aeolus mistakes Jason’s team for Olympus envoys ready to renegotiate his title. When corrected, he complains about conflicting divine demands and boasts of his knowledge. He exposes Piper’s father’s peril and unsettles Leo with a childhood drawing. The demigods request Enceladus’s location to reach Hera; Aeolus admits Hera’s site is magically veiled but, persuaded by promises of gratitude and promotion, considers helping.

With Zeus, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus seemingly approving aid, Coach Hedge arrives, catching Mellie’s eye. Aeolus identifies Enceladus’s lair as Mount Diablo near San Francisco and prepares to send them by wind.

Suddenly, Aeolus receives a new command from an unnamed, overwhelming power and reverses course, ordering their deaths despite prior divine support. He releases storm spirits, who shred the makeshift floor. Mellie throws herself over the group, absorbing deadly debris, and they plunge into the mountain’s vent.

As storm spirits pursue, Mellie and Jason combine control of the air to steer their fall into a tunnel. Under crushing pressure, Mellie dissolves into a protective breeze to shield them one last time. The winds erupt, catapulting the group into the sky, leaving Aeolus’s wrath behind.