-ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
THEY ended up having a showdown with a pack of wolves, no kidding, who thought they were all scary and all.
Rebecca could've beat them with a silver spoon- or silver earrings.
Bad thing, the main wolf, Lycanon? Honestly, he was so forgettable, mentioned she could speak latin.
And since Jason wasn't a bimbo all of a sudden he realised they must've come from the same place.
So yeah, wonderful, he was closer to remembering her. And Rebecca didn't want that, at all.
She liked her current version, she was nice-er, she talked more, a bit more bearable, she didn't overthink as much. At the current moment Thalia Grace, had appeared and saved all their asses with help of the Hunters.
She looked at the group of girls, an idea sparked her head. She didn't want to die (again), the hunters were inmortal. Her mind began to think, slowly but surely her plan made more and more sense.
Coach and Piper were off to see a healer named Phoebe and the rest stayed at the main camp.
Though Thalia didn't seem so psyched to have many people there when he only wanted to talk with his king lost brother.
The four got into a cave.
Leo stayed back with her. "Do you think I have a chance with Jason's sister."
Rebecca smiled. "She's a hunter."
He didn't get it.
"She has swore of the company of boys in exchange of immortality."
Leo didn't seem deflated. "Nah, I think I can make it."
Rebecca laughed and patted him in the back. "You go Valdez."
He smiled at her and jogged to where the siblings were.
Leo, Jason and Thalia sat around a fire, but Rebecca didn't follow, she was too tired and it was far too personal for her to be there.
The girl leaned against the wall of the cave, her eyes were heavy, it was hard to be awake, so she gave in.
In her dream she was back at the forest, how original, this time however she was not restrained.
"Rebecca." The voice said.
"Mother." She answered.
She began walking around the forest, the vines seemed to react at her touch.
"You have to keep your end of the deal." It was a statement Rebecca couldn't go against.
But she had done some thinking, she had friends now, they cared for her, she wouldn't hurt them voluntarily. "I won't."
Some thick veins wrapped around her foot, Mother wasn't happy. "That was the deal, you undid the prophecy of the eight and I would provide you freedom- at the moment there are no footsteps, which means you're still tied to me."
"I know." Whispered the halfblood. "But I won't hurt them. I won't make the footsteps appear."
Her mother scoffed, veins wrapped around her neck. "Have it your way."
"Rebecca!" Someone was shaking her awake.
She slowly opened her eyes, "Jason?"
His worried face looked at her, worried? About her? That couldn't be right.
"You weren't waking up." He offered her a hand.
Rebecca looked at his hand, she hesitated, but she took it.
He smiled at her, both getting to his sister.
Thalia had inky dark hair and electric blue eyes, she looked like Jason but at the same time she didn't.
They got out of the cave, they had to get with Piper and Coach to think of where to go.
Rebecca looked at Thalia, she wasn't smiling. "I want to become a hunter."
-ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
JASON looked electrocuted, which was funny since he was a son of Jupiter.
Thalia, however, looked happy. "That's great!" She slipped a hand into her pocket and got out a pamphlet.
In big bold letters it was written, THE HUNTERS! A WISE OPTION FOR YOUR FUTURE!
And since Rebecca was worried about not having a future she was going to join them, her life force was joined to her mother, but if she became a hunter it would be to Artemis.
Rebecca grabbed the pamphlet, reading it. "What do I have to do?"
Thalia and her began walking, Jason and Leo both surprised.
Thalia turned around. "Go fetch your friends, we have to talk."
Jason didn't look as if he wanted to go, his eyes followed Rebecca but Leo dragged him into the tent.
Thalia began to talk. "Lately there have been few applicants so it's great to find new girls. Usually Lady Artemis would be with us."
"But Olympus 'closed'."
"Exactly- she's the one that does the whole oath thing."
The goddess wasn't there, she thought maybe Thalia had the power somehow.
"But," the girl continued, "when the quest is over IM us and we'll get you."
"Great, thanks."
Thalia gave her a little smile.
-ˏˋ°•*⁀➷
THE hunters had accepted to help them find Aeolus place, so far they weren't having luck.
She was so lost in thought, he didn't realize the Hunters had stopped.
Jason slammed into Thalia and nearly sent them both down the side of the mountain the hard way. Fortunately, the Hunter was light on her feet. She steadied them both, then pointed up.
"That," Leo choked, "is a really large rock."
They stared at the rock. "Hades if it is."
They stood near the summit of Pikes Peak. Below them the world was blanketed in clouds. The air was so thin, Rebecca could hardly breathe.
Night had set in, but a full moon shone and the stars were incredible.
Stretching out to the north and south, peaks of other mountains rose from the clouds like islands—or teeth.
But the real show was above them.
Hovering in the sky, about a quarter mile away, was a massive free-floating island of glowing purple stone. It was hard to judge its size, but Rebecca figured it was at least as wide as a football stadium and just as tall.
The sides were rugged cliffs, riddled with caves, and every once in a while a gust of wind burst out with a sound like a pipe organ blast. At the top of the rock, brass walls ringed some kind of a fortress.
The only thing connecting Pikes Peak to the floating island was a narrow bridge of ice that glistened in the moonlight.
Then Rebecca realized the bridge wasn't exactly ice, because it wasn't solid. As the winds changed direction, the bridge snaked around-blurring and thinning, in some places even breaking into a dotted line like the vapor trail of a plane.
"We're not seriously crossing that," Leo said.
Thalia shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of heights, I'll admit. But if you want to get to Aeolus's fortress, this is the only way."
"Is the fortress always hanging there?" Piper asked. "How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?"
"The Mist," Thalia said. "Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pikes Peak looks purple. People say it's a trick of the light, but actually it's the color of Aeolus's palace, reflecting off the mountain face."
"It's enormous," Jason said.
Thalia laughed. "You should see Olympus, little brother."
"You're serious? You've been there?"
Thalia grimaced as if it wasn't a good memory. "We should go."
"That's reassuring," Leo said. "Jason, can't you just fly us up there?"
Thalia laughed. Then she seemed to realize Leo's question wasn't a joke. "Wait ... Jason, you can fly?"
Rebecca rolled her eyes with a small smile. "He's like a superman."
But Jason realised something, he had never used that power with Rebecca, he had only flied at the canyon- and the girl hadn't been there.
Jason gazed up at the floating fortress. "Well, sort of. More like I can control the winds. But the winds up here are so strong, I'm not sure I'd want to try. Thalia, you mean ... you can't fly?"
For a second, Thalia looked genuinely afraid. Then she got her expression under control. Rebecca realized she was a lot more scared of heights than she was letting on.
"Truthfully," she said, "I've never tried. Might be better if we stuck to the bridge."
Coach Hedge tapped the ice vapor trail with his hoof, then jumped, "common girl, give me your hand."
"No, that's okay," Piper started to say, but the coach grabbed her hand and dragged her up the bridge.
When they were about halfway, the bridge still seemed to be holding them just fine.
Thalia turned to her Hunter friend. "Phoebe, I'll be back soon. Go find the others. Tell them I'm on my way."
"You sure?" Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Leo and Jason, like they might kidnap Thalia or something.
"It's fine," Thalia promised.
Phoebe nodded reluctantly, then raced down the mountain path, the white wolves at her heels.
"Jason, Rebecca, Leo, just be careful where you step," Thalia said. "It hardly ever breaks."
"Hardly," Rebecca mumbled.
"It hasn't met me yet," Leo muttered, but Rebecca and Jason led the way up the bridge.
Halfway up, things went wrong.
Piper and Hedge had already made it safely to the top and were waving at them, encouraging them to keep climbing, but Leo got distracted.
"Why do they have a bridge?" Leo asked.
Thalia frowned. "Leo, this isn't a good place to stop. What do you mean?"
"They're wind spirits," Leo said. "Can't they fly?"
"Yes, but sometimes they need a way to connect to the world below."
"So the bridge isn't always here?" Leo asked.
Thalia shook her head. "The wind spirits don't like to anchor to the earth, but sometimes it's necessary. Like now. They know you're coming."
Great, just great, Rebecca thought, she could practically feel that everything was going to go wrong.
"Leo?" Jason said. "What are you thinking?"
"Oh, gods," Thalia said. "Keep moving. Look at your feet." Leo shuffled backward. With horror, he realized his body temperature really was rising.
Now, excitement was causing the reaction. His pants steamed in the cold air. His shoes were literally smoking, and the bridge didn't like it.
The ice was thinning.
"Leo stop," Rebecca warned. "You're melting it."
"I'll try," Leo said. But his body was overheating on its own. "Listen, Jason, what did Hera call you in that dream? She called you a bridge."
"Leo, seriously, cool down," Thalia said. "I don't what you're talking about, but the bridge is-"
"Just listen," Leo insisted. "If Jason is a bridge, what's he connecting? Maybe two different places that normally don't get along."
Rebecca paled, they were about to discover Camp Jupiter.
—like the air palace and the ground. You had to be somewhere before this, right? And Hera said you were an exchange."
"An exchange." Thalia's eyes widened. "Oh, gods." Jason frowned. "What are you two talking about?"
Thalia murmured something like a prayer. "I understand now why Artemis sent me here. Jason—she told me to hunt for Lycaon and I would find a clue about Percy. You are the clue. Artemis wanted us to meet so I could hear your story."
"I don't understand," he protested. "I don't have a story. I don't remember anything."
"But Leo's right," Thalia said. "It's all connected. If we just knew where—"
Leo snapped his fingers. "Jason, what did you call that place in your dream? That ruined house. The Wolf House?"
Rebecca was prepared to faint, if this was Hera's great plan, it was a recipe for chaos.
Thalia nearly choked. "The Wolf House? Jason, why didn't you tell me that! That's where they're keeping Hera?"
Rebecca wouldn't mind if they kept Hera there for a while more.
"You know where it is?" Jason asked.
Then the bridge dissolved. Leo would've fallen to his death, but Jason grabbed his coat and pulled him to safety. Rebecca dragged him up.
The three of them scrambled up the bridge, and when they turned, Thalia was on the other side of a thirty-foot chasm. The bridge was continuing to melt.
"Go!" Thalia shouted, backing down the bridge as it crumbled.
"Find out where the giant is keeping Piper's dad. Save him! I'll take the Hunters to the Wolf House and hold it until you can get there. We can do both!" She looked at Rebecca. "IM when this is over!"
The girl nodded.
"But where is the Wolf House?" Jason shouted.
"You know where it is, little brother!" She was so far away now that they could barely hear her voice over the wind. Leo was pretty sure she said: "I'll see you there. I promise."
Then she turned and raced down the dissolving bridge.
The three had no time to stand around. They climbed for their lives, the ice vapor thinning under their feet. Several times, Jason grabbed Leo and Rebecca and used the winds to keep them aloft, but it was more like bungee jumping than flying.
When they reached the floating island, Piper and Coach Hedge pulled them aboard just as the last of the vapor bridge vanished. They stood gasping for breath at the base of a stone stairway chiseled into the side of the cliff, leading up to the fortress.
Rebecca panted in the floor. "Never again."
But suddenly Piper dragged her up, she was surprisingly strong. "What does it mean you want to become a hunter!?"
Rebecca bit her tongue and glared at Leo and Jason, they were looking at everything but her. "It's a way to solve my... problem."
Piper wanted to say something else but she noticed Leo. "Leo, why are your clothes smoking?"
"I got a little heated," he gasped. "Sorry, Rebecca, Jason. Honest. I didn't-"
"S'alright."
"Yeah," Jason said, but his expression was grim.
"We've got less than twenty-four hours to rescue a goddess and Piper's dad. Let's go see the king of the winds."
Rebecca mumbled an ironic yeepy.
____________________________
- i love the hunters sm
- if i could i would be one, it's
seems so fun, like a friends trip
but forever
flo <3