Equilibrium

Chapter 35: Jackie's POV

Confessing everything about my past to Luka had honestly felt so freeing. It's like he understood. Or if he didn't, at least he accepted it. And to think that he'd had similar experiences, a rocky childhood, less than ideal adults in his life, and the fact that he'd lived through it too just made me trust him all the better.
I sigh happily and lean a little closer to him, my back pressed up against his chest as Harper soars through the sky, wind whipping at my face. It's like Luka and I are finally on the same page. We get each other. We've both dealt with a lot of shit, but at least now we can deal with it together.
The air starts growing colder and I shiver. Luka wraps his arms around me a little tighter.
"We must be getting close!" I say excitedly, noticing that Harper is climbing in altitude.
"Yeah, look!" Luka points out a mountain looming in the distance, growing closer as Harper cuts through the clouds like a knife.
Soon we touch down on Mount Elbert, and I slide off Harper's back and step cautiously onto the snowy ground. It's been a long flight, and my legs wobble a little bit, but I manage to stand straight.
I hear Luka's footsteps crunch in the show behind me and he lazily throws his arm over my shoulder.
"Where to now?" He gives me a little smile.
"How should I know?"
Luka raises an eyebrow, "Somebody's moody... I thought you were supposed to be all-knowing."
"It was a jooooke," I giggle, "And I AM all-knowing! We gotta climb a little ways up and supposedly there's a cave towards the peak. Artemis's relic should be inside."
"Okay Jackie the Wise, lead the way then," he mutters sarcastically, rolling his eyes, but I just shoot him a smirk.
"Onward!" I laugh and we start climbing.
After we've been climbing for close to an hour, Luka suggests we take a break. We plop down in the snow to rest, but pretty soon I'm just shivering in the freezing air. I stand and resume climbing.
"Come on Luka, get your lazy ass up, we still have a ways to go."
"Ughhhh how much further? Why couldn't your dumb bird take us directly to the cave?" He groans, standing up and following me slowly, dragging his feet through the snow. I turn to glare at him.
"Don't call Harper dumb! And quit dragging your feet! Harper probably didn't know exactly where the cave was, and he's done so much for us already. Let him rest or do whatever other bird things he's doing somewhere!"
"Okay, damn, no need to get so defen- JACKIE, LOOK OUT!"
I turn away from Luka and a blur of feathers clouds my vision. Instinctively, I dive to the ground, only to be met with a face full of snow. A shock of cold jolts through my body and I blink as the icy flakes sting my face. Sharp talons graze against my shoulder and my hand goes to my sword, but something wraps around my ankle and yanks me off the ground. For a moment, I lose all sense of direction and hastily wipe the snow out of my eyes, trying to figure out what the Hades is going on. A dull pounding starts in my head and I finally manage to get my bearings.
A harpy has wrapped her ugly ass chicken foot around my ankle and is dangling me about ten feet off the ground, into the air. My sword lies below me, useless, having slipped out of its holster along with my shotgun.
"Godsdamnit, Luka! Help me!" I scream, wiggling around frantically, but the harpy just digs her talons into my ankle. I cry out in pain and watch my blood drip onto the ground below me, staining the white snow a dark shade of crimson.
That's going to leave a mark.
"Okay okay just, uh, hang on!"
"Oh SURE!" I'd roll my eyes but I'm getting kind of dizzy and this is not exactly the place or time for sarcasm.
My head starts to throb dully as the blood rushes to it. "Hurry UP!"
"I'm WORKING ON IT!"
The harpy squawks and begins to climb higher into the air, dragging me along with her.
"LUKA!" I screech, twisting around in the harpy's grasp, only to hiss in pain as her talons pierce further into my flesh.
Blood pounding through my head, I scan the ground until I find Luka. He's got a celestial-bronze-tipped arrow nocked in his bow, and it looks like he's aiming it straight at me. He meets my eyes, releases a breath he's been holding, and then lets the arrow fly.
"Luka, what are you-"
THWACK!
The arrow makes its mark, embedding itself in the harpy's leg. She screeches, releasing her hold on my ankle. For a split second, I'm relieved, but then I realize that I'm plummeting towards the ground, head first, from a height of at least 30 feet. I can't tell if it's me screaming, the harpy, or Luka, but my ears are ringing. I curl into a ball, managing to pull myself out of a head-first dive. I close my eyes, preparing for impact, but then I feel something clawing at my shirt and my fall slows. I hear a loud rrrrip and a claw scrapes against my back as it tears through my orange t-shirt.
Then I hit the ground, landing on my side, and all the breath leaves my body. I roll over onto my back, staring at the sky, gasping and struggling to catch my breath. Little black dots enter my vision, swimming around in the cloudy sky. Then a shadow bends over me and blocks out the light, and the ringing in my ears finally subsides.
"Jackie? Jackie? Are you okay?" Luka's voice sounds echoey and distant, but it slowly. becomes clearer. "Jackie, Jackie?! Please, say something!"
"Yeah, I'm- I'm okay. I think," I breathe, Luka's shocking blue eyes finally coming into focus above me only to blink shut as he leans down and presses a soft kiss against my lips.
"Oh thank the gods." He sighs, helping me sit up. I wince in pain when his hand presses against my side, but I manage to remain upright.
"Your ankle..." He trails off. I look down and almost throw up at the sight of so much blood. Deep claw marks from the harpy's wicked talons marr the flesh, and the wound is still pouring blood into the snow. A vision of Maple enters my head, her neck torn and bloodied, and my breath gets shaky.
"I can't, I can't-" I break off and squeeze my eyes shut tight, refusing to look at my injury.
"Hey, hey it's okay, Jackie. I'm gonna fix you up, alright?" Luka whispers soothingly, "This might hurt a little, but I've got to apply pressure to stop the bleeding." I keep my eyes shut as Luka wraps something tight around my ankle, biting my lip to stop myself from crying out in pain.
After a while, the bleeding stops and Luka cleans my cut with something from his backpack. It stings really bad, but he talks to me the whole time and helps to distract me. He rants about how obsessed he is with the guitar and I actually find myself smiling as he bandages my ankle. His expression is adorable, the way his face lights up when he talks about music. I'll have to listen to him play his guitar sometime. He hands me a square of ambrosia and I swallow it gratefully. It works like a charm, the pain in my ankle temporarily numbing. I know it will probably kill later, but for now, it's alright.
"Thanks." I breathe a sigh of relief and give Luka a little smile.
"Of course. Can you stand?" He asks, "We've just got to get on Harper."
"Yeah I think I can- Harper?" I ask, looking around in bewilderment as I stand up, avoiding putting any pressure on my left leg. Sure enough, there stands my hawk, a piece of orange fabric clutched in his claw. Luka helps me hobble over to him and we get on, then Harper takes off and slowly glides up the mountain.
"After I shot the harpy, you were falling, and Harper came out of nowhere and slowed your fall."
"Ohh good boy, thank you!" I wrap my arms around the hawk and stroke his feathers. He coos affectionately.
Then realization dawns on me.
I whip my head around to glare at Luka. "WHAT were you thinking?! If Harper hadn't shown up, I would have fallen to my death!"
"I was trying to save you! And I killed the harpy!" He glares right back, lifting his chin indignantly, "I think a thank you is in order!"
"No way! I could have died!" I yell, wrapping my arms around myself as we gain altitude, suddenly realizing just how cold I am.  The back of my shirt is torn from Harper's talons and the mountain air bites at my skin. Luka just snorts and hands me a sweatshirt from his backpack.
"Put this on. You're freezing."
I slip it over my head and pout when he gives me an expectant look.
"Thanks." I mutter reluctantly, turning back around to face the front as he smiles slyly.
"No problem, Jack Jack." I turn right back around to face him again, and this time he's got a full grin stretched across his face. It does funny things to my stomach. I blush and squint at him, wrinkling my nose.
"Hey! That's what Leo calls me!"
"Well I'm stealing it!" He laughs, and I roll my eyes as a small smile tugs at my lips.
"Whatever, dumbass." I mumble sarcastically and Luka just smiles at me endearingly before I turn to face the front once again.
We take in the mountain scenery in comfortable silence and I fold my arms over my chest, thankful for the extra warmth from Luka's sweatshirt. It's definitely too big but I couldn't care less. I reach down and stroke Harper's feathers, a newfound appreciation for the bird instilled in my heart. And for my dad, for giving him to me in the first place. For a godly parent, he isn't half bad.
Thanks dad,
I think to myself, hoping, somehow, that Hermes would get the message.