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"You're not funny, Jason Grace."
Silence.
"This is an awful joke and I hate you."
Even more ringing silence.
Oriana Cho has been talking with his unconscious body for a few minutes now since they had pulled him from the ruins, the last of the ice and snow raining down on them melting into the ground. Still, he wouldn't stir. She was sitting on the steps of the porch, kneeling against the wood as she hovered over the body that laid across the grass. Minutes passed like the breeze of a fleeting wind, softly enough that she almost couldn't feel it. She held his hand as though it was the last desperate anchor she had, the warmth of him blanketing her palm. His hair was like newly spun gold that fell over his face in little strands and she fought the urge to reach over and smooth it out. Even in this state, there was something about him that pulled her to him. If their destinies were to blame, it wouldn't be fair to the way her heart was pounding — the desperation that keeps crawling up her throat every time she says a word and there is no answer.
Tears sprung to her eyes, unfairly so. She had known he would keep his promise. At her feet, the lyre laid untouched. Only moments before, she strung the instrument. She sang, bleeding out her emotions in the lullaby that she was taught. (A love song that was written a long time ago, a sad song.)
Hunters had pitched a tent in the middle of the clearing, tending to the wounded and trying to clear the wreckage. Snow had begun to melt and in the sky, there was no sign of rainclouds or a gathering storm that would blow past harsh winds and lightning. There were only stars, spinning. But as she sat there, murmuring to herself, she could see past the trees and the destruction that laid beyond it. In the distance, Piper and Leo stumbled over — bandages over the shallow scars that bled from their skin and ice bags placed on their bruises — with Thalia not close behind. Since she was defrosted from the eyes, she had barked orders almost immediately, settling into the role of commander and leader. (The children of Zeus were generals, not warriors who cried at any death that crossed their paths.) Every now and then, she looked at the ruins with a concerned glanced. And every time, Oriana would shake her head.
Thalia knelt down when she approached, placing a hand on her brother's forehead. "He's warm."
"I know," Oriana said as she fought another wave of tears. (It was stupid — Thalia wasn't crying and this was her brother. She had no right to these tears)
"Then why isn't he waking up?" Leo asked.
"Because I revealed my true form." There was a shimmer of gold and the goddess, Hera, appeared before them. "And he saw it."
