[ chapter thirty-four: hermia ]
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Thanks to Piper the group was able to borrow the helicopter. The ride however was filled with Piper's dad mumbling stuff he didn't understand. In some way Mia knew his pain because for most of this quest she's been feeling so lost. The only difference was that Hermia was a demigod and she could handle seeing a giant. Piper's dad on the other hand couldn't.
At the moment the nice ranger pilot was flying them to the Oakland Airport. The whole time while they flew Piper was explaining everything to her dad. But Hermia was lost in her thoughts and didn't pay attention to there conversation.
She couldn't take the image of Lysander's wedding ring out of her mind. She didn't know what to think and as much as she wanted to visit him again through her crystal, she couldn't. Not until she figured out what she was feeling toward Jason. Those thoughts were also running through her mind and they wouldn't leave her alone.
She didn't know if he felt the same way or if she really liked him. How could she possibly like him when she's been in love with Lysander for so long. It hadn't even been that long since Mia woke up from her slumber. She remembered only having thoughts of her boys and waking up holding hand with Jason.
Back then she didn't want to hold his hand because she was desperate to find Lysander. But now everything was different. Hermia had gotten so close to Jason these last couple days, so much so that she actually liked him. But the thoughts of him not trusting her kept playing in her mind.
How could Mia possibly like someone who didn't trust her? Jason had asked if she trusted him, she said yes, but what about him? Did he finally trust her? Or did he still have doubts?
Hermia's gaze moved over to Jason and saw how his eyes were scanning the ground. He seemed to be lost in thought as well, probably because he didn't want to disturb Piper's time with her father. In that moment Hermia would have done anything to be able to read his thoughts.
Suddenly as they passed over the hills into the East Bay, Mia noticed Jason becaming tense. He leaned so far out the doorway Hermia was afraid he'd fall.
Without much of a thought Mia reached over and wrapped her arm around him. Just in case he needed someone to pull him back, she'd be there. She knew he could fly, but that didn't mean she wanted him fly out of the helicopter. "What are you doing!"
Their eyes met for a moment before she noticed he was pointing at something. "What is that?" He asked.
Hermia followed his gaze and looked down, but she didn't see anything interesting-just hills, woods, houses, little roads snaking through the canyons. A highway cut through a tunnel in the hills, connecting the East Bay with the inland towns.
"Did you hit your head or something?" Mia asked as she glanced back at Jason. She gave him a questioning look as he glanced back at her. "I don't see anything."
"Where?" Piper asked as soon as turned to look at the pair.
"That road," Jason said. "The one that goes through the hills."
Hermia watched as Piper picked up the com helmet the pilot had given her and relayed the question over the radio. The answer wasn't very exciting.
"She says it's Highway 24," Piper reported. "That's the Caldecott Tunnel. Why?"
Mia noticed Jason staring intently at the tunnel entrance, but he said nothing. It disappeared from view as they flew over downtown Oakland, but Jason still stared into the distance, his expression almost as unsettled as Piper's dad's.
Mia didn't know what was going on in his head, but she just pulled him closer to her and away from the doorway. He's eyes still had a faraway look to them, but he still managed to send her a small smile, while he rubbed her arm with his hand.
° • ° • °
Air traffic control didn't want to let an unscheduled helicopter land at the Oakland Airport-until Piper got on the radio. Then it turned out to be no problem. After uploading the tarmac, everyone looked at Piper. Hermia knew everyone wanted to know what her next plan was, but maybe she herself didn't know.
"What now?" Jason asked her.
Hermia could tell Piper felt uncomfortable. Who would want to be in charge of a quest anyway. Mia sure wouldn't. But she understood that Piper needed to do this, for herself and her father. There might not be a plan, yet. But Mia knew Piper would come up with something. Whatever plan Piper had, she needed to make it happen and fast. Today was the solstice. They had to save Hera. They had no idea where to go or if they were even too late.
"First thing," Piper said. "I-I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."
Their faces fell. But Mia understood Piper more than she knew. Hermia would always do the same thing Piper is doing. If it came down to it and she had to help her loved ones, Mia would stop at nothing until they were safe. If this was her and Hermia had a injured Lysander or Demetrius than she would want him away from any danger as soon as possible.
Mia smiled sadly as Piper as she placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I understand more than you think." Piper watched Mia with a sad look as Hermia took a deep breath. "If this is what you want to do, than I support you."
Piper smiled as she pulled Mia into a hug. Hermia was caught off guard, but she still returned the hug. "Thank you so much for your help, Mia. You really are a great friend."
They pulled away from each other as Mia send Piper a warm smile. Friend. It made Hermia happy to know that Piper saw her as a friend. Maybe now things will be different and her friends will start trusting her again.
From beside them Leo said, "Oh, I mean Mia's right, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from here."
But Piper's father seemed to have other plans for his daughter. "Pipes, no." Her dad had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't-"
"I'll take care of him," said Coach Hedge.
Hermia looked over at Hedge. She was beyond surprised to see the satyr volunteering to take Piper's dad home. The satyr was the last person she'd expected to offer.
Piper and Mia shared a glanced. The girl's obviously thinking the same thing. "You?" Piper asked.
"I'm a protector," Gleeson said. "That's my job, not fighting."
He sounded a little crestfallen, and Hermia realized maybe Piper's shouldn't have recounted how he got knocked unconscious in the last battle. In his own way, maybe the satyr was as sensitive as Piper's dad.
Then Hedge straightened, and set his jaw. "Of course, I'm good at fighting, too." He glared at them all, daring them to argue.
Hermia fought to hide her smile. "I'd say you're even deadly."
"Yes," Jason add as he and Mia shared a glance. Behind their eyes they could see a light that wasn't there before. The pair desperately wanted to laugh, but they held back.
"Terrifying," Leo agreed.
The coach grunted. "But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."
"But ..." Hermia noticed Piper's eyes starting to water, as if she were back in the forest fire. "Dad ..." He held out his arms, and she hugged him. He looked frail. From what Mia could see he was trembling.
"Let's give them a minute," Jason said as he pulled Mia after him. They also took the pilot with them as they walked a few yards down the tarmac.
As they talked Hermia couldn't help but watch Piper and her father with such a longingly look. Now more than ever Mia wished she could see her boys again. She wanted her parents back and she wanted her best friend back.
Talking to them through a dream wasn't enough. Sure it made her feel warm and happy when the dreams were happening, but it wasn't the same. She wanted to hold her loved ones, just like Piper was doing. But sadly Mia didn't know when she'd be seeing her boys again. She already lost her parents, so seeing them was out of the question.
But watching Piper right now with her father, made Mia wish she could hold her parents again. It wasn't fair that the gods stole her life. Hermia has lost so much. For so long she's pushed her feelings away because she had a mission. To find Lysander, Demetrius and now Stefan. But right now all the heartache she's tried to push away was crashing down on her.
So much pain from losing her parents, her boys, Stefan, and her life. It was all crashing down in one powerful surge of emotion and Hermia didn't know how to handle it.
As Piper gave her father the vial her mother gave her, Hermia could feel her hands start to shake. As soon as Piper's dad slumped forward, Leo ran up to help. Jason on the other hand was watching Mia in concern.
Hermia could faintly hear Hedge telling Piper he told the ranger to call up a plane. But so much hurt and power was running through Mia's veins that she didn't even bother to actually listen. There was still so much happening between Piper and her father, but Mia was beyond gone. All her emotions were getting the best of her and she feared that if she let herself cry she would cause so much damage. Worse of all she could end up hurt her friends.
"Hermia, what's wrong," Jason asked as he took a step closer to her. "Are you okay?"
Mia was able to hear his question but she couldn't reply. All she did was move farther away from him because the pull she felt in her stomach was getting to be so much. Hermia desperately wanted to let her emotions out, but first she needed to get far away from Jason and the others.
By this time her head was spinning and she could faintly hear Hedge telling the boys to take care of Mia and Piper. Leo agreed, but Jason hadn't said anything. Hermia hoped he wasn't anywhere near her as her power started to surface.
"Mia, tell me what's wrong."
Hermia didn't notice that Piper's dad and Coach Hedge were gone by now. Piper was busy crying in Leo's arms but when they heard Jason's voice, they turned to look at him and Mia.
"What's going on, Jason?" Leo asked as he and Piper walked closer to him.
Jason took his eyes off Mia for a moment to look at them. "I don't know. She won't talk to me."
"Mia?" Leo tired.
Hermia shook her head as her tears finally started to fall from her eyes. Mia looked over at her friends as she took another step back. "I can't do this anymore." She said as they all watched her sadly. "I've been strong for so long, but I can't deal with this anymore. I miss my old life. I miss my parents, I miss Stefan, I miss my boys. I want my old life back!"
Suddenly the group felt the ground around them start to shake. They didn't know what it meant, but from the looks of it Mia was causing this.
"Hermia, calm down." Jason tried walking closer to her but she took a step back.
"Get away from me, Superman before I hurt you."
Jason's eyes softened but he didn't back down. "You're not going to hurt me. I've always known you'd never hurt me and I'm sorry for losing my trust in you. But I promise that will never happen again. Do you hear me, Mia? I trust you with my life. Now please take my hand and let it all out the real way."
Hermia didn't know what he meant. The real way? Did he mean crying her eyes out? Probably, and that was better than causing destruction, but Mia didn't know how to do that. Her powers have always had a history of going haywire whenever her feelings got the best of her. Back then she always let her emotions out through her magic, but how could she pull her powers back while she cried?
Suddenly Jason was in front of her and before she could push him away, he pulled her into a hug. "It's okay, you can do this. Just let it out, you'll be fine."
And for the first time in her life Mia was able to push her powers away and cry without fearing she would destroy something. Hermia wrapped her arms tightly around Jason as all her emotions came to the surface. Her cries of pain were too much for Jason and he fought to keep his eyes dried. Instead he wrapped her tightly in his arms as he buried his head between her neck and shoulder. He kept himself from crying because he knew Mia needed him.
Being in Jason's arms made Hermia feel safe enough to cry without having her powers surface. She would forever be greatfull to Jason because he had done so much for her. He helped her in this time of need and she could only hope he'd be there for her in the long run.
Mia obviously didn't know it at the time, but this was the moment she started falling in love with him.
Late update again, sorry but I've just been busy. But hey on the bright side I'm still updating even when I'm busy!
In other news Jason and Mia own my whole heart!😫🥰
It looks like Mia's starting to fall in love with Jason👀 Don't worry they'll still be a slow burn, but she's definitely feeling something more :)
Sorry for this chapter Lysander😞 I can already picture all the drama that will appear in the second book...
Can you guys believe we're getting closer to the end of this book! Like ahh I can't believe I'm almost done with it. I can’t wait to start writing the 2nd one!
Anyways thank you for reading!
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