Forever Together | Heroes of Olympus

Jason's POV

Words could not describe Jason's state of mind right now. He was angry, but sad; determined, but ready to give up. He had gone astray from the others in hopes of maybe stumbling upon the girls accidentally. Because truthfully, Jason had no idea where he was. It was so easy to get lost in a desert, even if you knew exactly where you were looking for.

All he could do was think about the events leading up to this. And all that came up was Piper. Sure, call him cliché. He blamed himself for her being missing. He should've known to go immediately to her when he sensed her uneasiness, even if he had to pry open her door. The one thing that really threw him off though was that he never knew what Dylan had done. Had Piper not trusted him enough with this? Was he not a good listener? Or was she trying to tell him but he just didn't get the message? Jason could write a novel just about his regrets.

"Hey! Watch it!" Jason almost didn't realize that he had walked straight into Nico. How Nico had shown up at the perfect time, Jason didn't know. But he didn't care. He didn't even need to say anything for Nico to understand.

"I know you feel like it's your fault. But it's really not. You did all that you could, but nothing was enough. Nothing would've ever been enough. It was just fate for this to happen." Jason couldn't take it anymore.

"So it was fate for my girlfriend to hate me? Fate for her and the others to get kidnapped? Fate for her to get raped and never tell anyone? Fate for it all to happen again?! Piper could be out there, enduring more than she can, just because she's waiting for us! And look at where we are! Standing in the middle of nowhere, asking ourselves why this all happened!" When he finished, he knew he regretted saying it like that.

He was about to break down again when Nico just slapped him. Straight up slapped him. The force jolted him back to reality, waking up his senses to what really mattered.

"Right. Thanks." Was all he could say. Nico gave him a nod in response.

"You've just got to hope for the best. It may not turn out the way you want, but hope keeps you from going insane off of worry. It worked for me, so I'm sure it'll work for you." Jason was about to object and say that in this situation there was death involved but knew he shouldn't. Nico was just trying to help, and he really was. Jason didn't care if Piper wanted him to die, he would still give her a life-crushing hug and kiss when he finds her. Even if it's the last one he'll ever get.

"Thanks, bro. I really needed that. Especially the slap." Nico chuckled and continued walking. They weren't even walking in any direction, but hope kept Jason from stopping. He kicked rocks as he walked, trying to entertain himself. And failing.

As they walked, they managed some small talk. Nico told Jason more about Bianca, how life was hard without her and being a child of Hades alone. Jason told him all of what had happened with Piper, his feelings towards it all. How he wanted to strangle himself knowing that he had done something to upset Piper.

As Nico was trying to convince him that it wasn't his fault, Jason heard a faint click. Brief, but long enough to be heard clearly. He spun around 360 degrees but saw nothing.

"J-Jason." Nico nudged him. He pointed out towards the horizon, revealing a tiny but visible miracle. Jason looked down and saw that there was a tiny little hole in the ground, perfect for putting a rock. Underneath was a little trigger, barely noticeable.

"You see where hope gets you?" Nico smiled, for once, and they ran off towards the most hopeful thing Jason had ever seen.

Heyyy sorry for not updating in 1682747 years. School's got me covered and it's only gonna get busier :( sorry this was short, but what do you think they found? Thanks for the reads and votes! Especially those cute comments about how I may have crushed your souls :) keep it up! Have a good Sunday!