Chapter 43
Bodies aching and bandaged in various ways the heroes sat in the living room of the brownstone together, exchanging silent stairs. It was the beginning of a new year. It was over, they had done it. Cronus was locked away in his cell and hopefully it would be for eternity this time. What was going to happen now? It all felt so surreal, everything had been so short termed in all of their minds before, they needed to think in the here and now, but the future spread out before them like a path to Hades.
"I guess we should start packing up," Jay breathed, "go home." There was a unanimous sigh and the air in the room heaved heavy.
"I'm going to move in with my Gran," Herry said reaching for his girlfriend's hand, "So, I guess I'll see you around New Olympia still Neil."
"I'm going to stay here to," Odie said, "it is the middle of the school year and I don't want to have to transfer with University applications coming up."
Jay straightened at that, "Odie, that's it, I'm sure the gods won't have a problem with us staying in the brownstone to finish up school."
"Yeah," Atlanta jumped up from the couch, "What are we doing guys? This doesn't have to mean goodbye, even if the gods won't let us stay here, we can find another place to rent." There was a volley of cheering agreement that bubbled up around her and she pumped her fist into the air, "We beat Cronus."
"We beat Cronus," everyone repeated back to her on laughing voices.
"Now let's order a pizza and get drunk, it's New Years!" Archie exclaimed and the eruption of cheers followed him down the stairs to his stash of beer. With the room freshly illuminated with lighthearted cheer they drank and laughed in the hours it took for the sun to travel around the world.
It had officially been two years since this madness with Cronus had all started. Jay dropped back down to the couch with a deep sigh. Theresa sat beside him and curled close, tucking her feet up under herself.
"Hey, it's New Years, cheer up," she told him. He sighed and looked out at his team, his friends. They were laughing and joking, currency playing a game of flip cup.
Breathing out a laugh he grinned and nodded. Swinging himself to his feet Jay declared, "Whose team am I on?" His friends stared at him in dumbfounded shock. Then the silence ended like thunder after a strike of lightning. Their neighbors were sure to make a noise complaint from all the whooping and hollering that followed.
"Guys," Jay held up his red plastic cup, "Here's to Cronus, for bringing us together." He tossed his head back and drained his beer. It dribbled down his chin in his rush. Smacking it facedown onto the table he gave it one effortless flick with his finger into the air and won the game. There was so many slaps on his back it made his lungs rattle in his chest, all he could do was laugh along with everyone else.
"You want to come with me upstairs?" Theresa whispered with and in an instant they were quickly gone up the stairs.
"I need some fresh air," Herry said and pushed himself up from the floor in front of the coffee table, "Anyone else game for a walk?"
"I will," Opal was quick to offer, still nestled on the floor.
Herry smirked and held out his hand for her to grab and pulled her to her feet. He didn't wait for anyone else to take up his invitation. In the landing he tossed on his blue jock jacket and stepped out into the crisp winter morning, a light dusting of snow on the ground. The newly rising sun painted the sky in pastels.
"Put some pants on, I don't understand how you go out in shorts during the winter," Opal complained following him outside.
"It's not that cold," he shrugged and looked behind him as he held out his arm and wiggled his fingers, she interlocked hers with his and they started off down the sidewalk together in a slow stroll.
"But there's snow on the ground," she protested.
"Try the forty below Saskatchewan winters," he said, "BC coast it like the tropics compared to that."
"Still," she hummed. They walked in silence, the sounds of traffic relatively thin due to the morning hour on a holiday. As they reached the park the singing of birds became more prevalent. The rustling of leaves and the trickling of a stream added the chorus. The air was crisp, refreshing in Herry's lungs. Opal tugged at the leather of his sleeve and he looked down at her.
"Can you lift me into the bottom branch of that pine?" she pointed to a tree coming up on the path.
"Sure, but why?" he asked letting go of her hand to interlock his fingers and bent for her to place her foot in his palms.
"You'll see," she smiled and lifted her leg up, placing her hands on his shoulders for balance. He lifted her up and she shifted one hand to the top of his head while she reached for the closest branch. Wrapping her fingers around it she reached up her other hand and then stepped up from Herry's hand's to his shoulders for the extra leverage before pulling herself fully into the tree. From there the evergreen was fairly easy to climb, branches clustered close together. The training with Aries was defiantly showing through then, a month ago she never would have thought twice about tree climbing. The alcohol might have also inflated her perception of her climbing skills.
When she made it about halfway up she began shuffling out from the trunk and picking off pinecones closer to the tips of the branches, she let them fall to the ground below. Herry watched her in confusion and followed along with her directly underneath. Firmly holding some braches near her head she gently reached one foot out to a neighboring branch. She lifted her foot to step over but there was a sharp crack and the branch fell out from under her weight. Herry's heart jumped into his throat as he watched her catch the tiptoes of her feet back onto her original branch and haul herself back up with her arms.
"You're going to give me a heart attack," he yelled up to her when she was safely grounded again, "Are you almost done up there?"
"Almost," she said, attempting another branch and it held. She tossed down a few more pinecones and then inched her way back to the trunk so she could begin her decent. She lay on the branch closest to the ground and slowly lowered herself down to hang from it. Before she could make the jump to the ground Herry reached up to take her by the waist. She let go and reached to wrap her arms around his shoulders as he lowered her down into his arms.
"Were you worried about me?" she asked, touching her nose to his.
"You're such a strange little girl," he told her, "why do you need pinecones?"
"You'll see," she squirmed in his embrace and he set her down. She collected the cones from the ground and carried them over to one of the park benches. She waved him over and patted the spot beside her. When he joined her she started to dissect the pinecones. Carefully she picked out the seeds under each bract.
"Here, hold these," she held out a handful of them and he cupped his hands together to oblige. She bent over her lap to continue collecting seeds, dropping more and more into his hands until she was satisfied with the pile there. She got to her feet and, standing in front of Herry, placed her sap sticky hands on his wrists to pull him up with her. She stepped back from him and giggled. He sent her a curious look.
"Just stand like that," she said and then whistled out the call of a chickadee, looking up to the trees. She called again when she saw one hop along a branch in the tree behind Herry. The little gray bird with a black cap on its head cocked its head to the side as it looked down at the seeds. It called and more chickadees began gathering.
"Whoo," Herry jumped slightly in surprise when one brave bird fluttered down to land on his hands. It pinched up a seed in its bill, looked up to Herry and then flew away. More and more came to land on him after that, hopping on his wrists as they waited a turn to move to his fingers and dip their head into his bowled hands for a seed. Opal giggled and pulled out her PMR to snap a picture of him, an amazed look etched across his face, completely engrossed with the birds. When all the seeds were gone and the lingering birds on his hands decided to leave he dropped his hands to brush the sap there onto his shorts.
"Cool eh?" she asked picking up another pinecone to retrieve some more seeds. She whistled the call and a chickadee was quick to fly down and perch on her hand. As the bird shifted its beak through the seeds she gave it a two toned whistle. It looked up to her with its head turned to the side and called back to her in the same manner. Herry smiled to himself as he watched a broad smile spread across her face. She was adorable, standing there with the bird on her hand, looking like she was having a conversation with it as they called back and forth.
What came next he hadn't meant to say, it just kind of slipped out. With a content sigh he whispered, "I love you."
She shot her head up to look at him, her lips parted and her blue eyes wide, "What did you just say?"
"I, ah, I said…" his cheeks heated up as he stuttered, and his heart decided to start pounding in his chest. This couldn't be good for his blood pressure. He took in a deep breath and tried again, "I said, umm, I love you."
She sent him a warm smile and bashfully replied, "I love you too." She looked back to the birds and continued to whistle to them. A dopey grin tugged at his lips and refused to leave his face, what a perfect way to start the New Year.
Hey guys,
Thanks so much for reading! Sorry it took so long to get the final chapter up, hope it doesn't disappoint. It's very nice to get this finished and prove to myself I could stick with a project this long and big. I've learned a lot about my writing, I still have so far to go. I know this is no where near professional quality, but it was fun and entertaining, and on that level I hope you can agree. Please feel free to leave reviews on my story, if there is any areas you think I could improve on I would love to hear them.
Thank you to everyone that reviewed, favourited, followed. And thank you to all that lurked quietly.
Cheers and cheers again!
Jackpine
