I looked back at Ophelia's slumbering form.
Ever since we started the quest, she's been acting strangely. She's paranoid, constantly muttering under her breath, eyeing every corner for shadows; I don't think she even realises she's doing it. Even worse, she's right.
She knew what was going to happen before it did; she was tense and had her hand on her sword before the Furies even got on the bus, her eyes darting around for escape routes. It took a while for Medusa's spell to fade and lift the haze from my mind, but now that it did, I remember her knowing that it was a trap by Medusa; she told us before we entered the store!
I've always hated the thought of prophetic talk, ever since I was a child and my mother tried to take the spirit of the Oracle, but Ophelia seemed to breathe forethought. How does she know things that haven't happened?
And what happened with Medusa? Ophelia says she defeated her, but she doesn't have a scratch on her, Riptide was still in the exact same place as a hair clip since we escaped the Furies. She's hiding something, but I don't think it's anything bad. In fact, I'm more worried she's traumatised than anything else.
"She's hiding something."
Annabeth was scowling at the dirt, stabbing it with a stick. "Something happened with Medusa that she isn't telling us about."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. Curse my protective instinct; now I'm lost in New Jersey with two feuding preteens. "She's traumatised, Annie. What you said is true, but she doesn't want to tell us because she's scared."
"What? She doesn't trust us?" She said indignantly and threw her stick. "Aren't we supposed to be a team?"
"Do you trust her?" I retorted.
"No. She's hiding something."
Olympus help me. "Trust is a two-way street. How can she trust you when you don't trust her."
"She trusts you!" Annabeth whined.
"She trusts me because, unlike you, I haven't been trying to pick a fight with her every time I see her. You have to give her a chance. She has saved us twice already; it's not like she's about to kill us in our sleep."
She ducks her head. "Fine."
I sighed, and stretched out an arm to her. "Come here."
She shuffles over so I can give her a one sided embrace. I could faintly see a blush on her face. "You're always going to be my little sister, I won't abandon you."
"But you're always with her!"
I brushed her hair out of her face. "Yeah, because our family has grown and we have to show our new member around." I chuckle at a memory, "Y'know, Thalia was a bit jealous too when you joined the family."
Her eyes went wide as she searched my face for lies. "Really?"
"Yep. I was looking after you all the time and couldn't do stuff as just us. But you know what? After a while, that didn't matter, because we were family and we stick together. She loved you just as much as she loved me."
Annabeth nodded. "Okay, I'm sorry."
"It's not me that you have to apologise to. But we can do that in the morning." I gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Go to sleep, I'll wake you up when it's your turn on watch."
I watched as she curled up in her own sleeping bag. How quickly she falls asleep, so innocent. Thalia should be here to see her, to see our family.
'I've protected our family for you. I've done what you would've. Are you proud of me?' I wanted to ask her. 'Will you be there to greet me in Elysium with a smile?'
I look down to my bag and draw out a small vial. Alabaster's and Clovis' sleeping Potion. I unscrew the top and let a drop fall on my tongue.
'Would you defy the gods and the Titans with me? Let the world burn for our family?'
I screwed my eyes shut.
My fatal flaw is not Hubris. My fatal flaw is my family.