The House of Hades (Fan-Fiction)

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jason

Jason felt like he was the worst hero ever.

He had gotten himself knocked out by a goddess and fallen over the side of the ship. He had luckily woken up a few feet from the ground, so he controlled the winds to cushion his fall. Then when he saw Piper falling, he managed to get her, finding her unconscious, flew up on deck before collapsing in exhaustion.

When he came to his bearings he was in the sickbay. Above him the light was so bright it was painful.

“Hey, bro, nice, you’re up,” Leo said above him. “You were only out for like five minutes. You okay?”

Overwhelmed with questions, Jason raised his eyebrows and sat up. “What’s up with me getting knocked out like this?”

Leo cracked a smile. “I dunno.” His smile quickly faded. “About Lyssa, Piper told us some really messed up stuff. Gaea gave Lyssa orders to kill all of us.”

“Oh.” Jason looked around the room. It was empty except for him and Leo. “Where is Piper?”

“Talking to the others about her visions,” Leo answered. “I heard something about a Greek princess.”

“Help me up,” Jason said. Leo helped him to his feet. He walked to the mess hall, where everyone sat, talking in low voices.

“Jason!” Piper cried, obviously relieved, a smile breaking out onto her face. “How do you feel?” She ran over and hesitantly put her hand on his arm. “I thought- I thought you were going to die.”

He studied her. Her face was grim, her hand enclosed around her knife. Her eyes sparkled with relief.

“How do you know it was Lyssa?” he asked her. “Yeah, I understand it was your knife, but what was the vision?”

She pulled away immediately. “It was nothing. It doesn’t matter anymore; I should have told you when I saw the vision.” She averted her gaze back to the table. “Lyssa will be back. I know that much.” She went on deck, running up the stairs.

Immediately Jason turned on Hazel. “What’s wrong with her?”

Around Hazel, the plates quivered. “The visions are getting too much for her. She thinks Lyssa is her fault.”

“Figures,” Coach Hedge snorted. He bit into a napkin. “Heroes these days are always taking the blame. They think every little thing that goes wrong is their fault.”

“Isn’t being selfless a good thing?” Leo asked, sounding a little miffed.

“Look at Jackson,” the old satyr said, his voice shaking slightly. “His fatal flaw is loyalty. Look where that got him. He’s in Tartarus.”

“You don’t have to act like it’s the end of the world,” Frank said. “All of us feel that Lyssa is our fault. All of us feel that Percy and Annabeth are our fault.”

“That’s exactly what Percy would say,” Nico said, turning away. “You guys are turning like Percy.”

“If you excuse me, I’m going on deck,” Jason said, walking on deck. He wanted to get some breathing room- and he needed to make sure Piper was okay.

She wasn’t. Her back was to him, her body shaking. Her knife was on the ground next to her. He decided she wasn’t crying, just trembling.

He put his arm around his waist, meaning to pull her close. “Pipes…”