EURYDICE || Percy Jackson

14 - Aeolus

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AEOLUS
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FOR A MOMENT, Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.

"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip—you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"

Laviana laughed. "Seriously?"

Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers —excellent source of iron."

"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"

At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."

Piper did better than that. She collapsed. She would've cracked her head on the cave floor if Hedge hadn't caught her.

Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah—never mind. I see. Hypothermia. Ankle." She frowned at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"

Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

Thalia gave Leo an accusatory glare, like Why did you let the goat be a doctor?

"You and the satyr," Thalia ordered, "take this girl to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe's an excellent healer."

"It's cold out there!" Hedge said. "I'll freeze my horns off."

But Laviana knew when they weren't wanted. "Come on, Hedge. These two need time to talk."

"Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody."

Hedge carried Piper toward the entrance. Leo and Laviana were about to follow when Jason called, "Actually, guys, could you, um, stick around?"

Laviana saw something in Jason's eyes she didn't expect: fear. Jason was asking for support. He wanted somebody else there. He was scared.

Leo grinned. "Sticking around is my specialty."

Thalia didn't look too happy about it, but the four of them sat at the fire. For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Jason studied his sister like she was a scary device—one that might explode if handled incorrectly. Thalia seemed more at ease, as if she was used to stumbling across stranger things than long-lost relatives. But still she regarded Jason in a kind of amazed trance, maybe remembering a little two-year-old who tried to eat a stapler.

Finally Leo couldn't stand the silence. "So ... the Hunters of Artemis. This whole 'not dating' thing—is that like always, or more of a seasonal thing, or what?"

Laviana snorted before kicking him in the shin. "Leo, that was not funny. We don't say things like that."

Jason nodded. "Don't mind him. He's just trying to break the ice. But, Thalia ... what happened to our family? Who told you I was dead?"