𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 - j. grace, ocxoc ¹ ✓

xxii. pick up the wind !

XXII.      JASON GRACE   !
⋆ ★
pick up the wind

          Jason found and lost his sister in less than an hour. As they climbed the cliffs of the floating island, he kept looking back, but Thalia was gone.

Despite what she'd said about meeting him again, Jason wondered. She'd found a new family with the Hunters, and a new mother in Artemis. She seemed so confident and comfortable with her life, Jason wasn't sure if he'd ever be part of it. And she seemed so set on finding her friend Percy. Had she ever searched for Jason that way?

Not fair, he told himself. She thought you were dead.

He could barely tolerate what she'd said about their mom. It was almost like Thalia had handed him a baby—a really loud, ugly baby—and said, Here, this is yours. Carry it. He didn't want to carry it. He didn't want to look at it or claim it. He didn't want to know that he had an unstable mother who'd gotten rid of him to appease a goddess. No wonder Thalia had run away.

Then he remembered the Zeus cabin at Camp Half-Blood —that tiny little alcove Thalia had used as a bunk, out of sight from the glowering statue of the sky god. Their dad wasn't much of a bargain, either. Jason understood why Thalia had renounced that part of her life too, but he was still resentful. He couldn't be so lucky. He was left holding the bag —literally.

The golden backpack of winds was strapped over his shoulders. The closer they got to Aeolus's palace, the heavier the bag got. The winds struggled, rumbling and bumping around.

The only one who seemed in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept bounding up the slippery staircase and trotting back down.

"Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!"

As they climbed, his friends left Jason in his silence. Maybe they could sense his bad mood. Kaori kept glancing back, worried, as if he were the one who'd almost died of hypothermia rather than her. Piper seemed in a haze, maybe she was thinking about Thalia's idea. He told her what Thalia had said on the bridge—how they could save both her dad and Hera—but Jason didn't really understand how they were going to do that, and he wasn't sure if the possibility had made Piper more hopeful or just more anxious.

Kaen, Kaori, and Delilah gathered in front of the others, whispering amongst themselves. Their faces looked so pale it seemed as if they had seen a ghost. Delilah tucked her hair behind her ear, an uneasy look to her face. Jason swore he saw her almost cry but she linked away tears. Kaen looked angry — angrier than usual. His dark eyes stared at the ground and his eyebrows were furrowed. Kaori only seemed scared, distraught. He heard fragments of the conversation: Thalia. Percy. Dangerous. Prophecy. Enemy. For a second Kaori made eye contact with Jason, meaning she had seen him trying to listen to what they were saying.

"Hey," she whispered to Kaen and Delilah to catch their attention. They both turned to see Jason, straightening their posture and staying silent.

Couldn't they forget their superiority of being at camp longer and tell them? It wasn't like Jason was new to this, at least that's what he could gather. Couldn't they forget about their differences for once and tell them? He knew they were close, he knew they all had shared times together that Jasona and his friends couldn't share with them. But if it was this important . . .

Leo kept swatting his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire. He wasn't steaming anymore, but the incident on the ice bridge had really freaked Jason out. Leo hadn't seemed to realize that he had smoke coming out his ears and flames dancing through his hair. If Leo started spontaneously combusting every time he got excited, they were going to have a tough time taking him anywhere. Jason imagined trying to get food at a restaurant.I'll have a cheeseburger and—Ahhh! My friend's on fire! Get me a bucket!