February, 5th 2012
I don't own any of the characters, Rick Riordan does!
Beta for this Chapter: None
A/N: I'm back, loyal readers! :3
Yeah well, my titles get weirder and weirder XD Thought I'd do three chapters this weekend. Though I'll have to extend the definition of "weekend" a little since this is only the second one and it's already Sunday ^^". I'll manage somehow xP
So! Here's the answer to all your questions about "what happened to Thalia?". Yeah and nooow
Please enjoy :3
Chapter LIV
Jason
He woke up to Piper's voice, yelling at him. Wind was swirling around him and he felt like he was falling without a parachute. No wait, he was! Shit, he had passed out when he had tried to make 3 people and himself fly at once!
"Wake up! Jason, please! Come on!" the girl wrapped around his neck pleaded but there was also a hint of power in her voice. Since she did have the most powerful voice Jason had ever heard, he certainly did open his eyes in the next second looking to the ground. Okay, 100 meters left maybe?
Crap.
Jason willed the winds to support him and he grabbed onto the other two he held tighter so he was able to get them up with him. Piper beside him relaxed visibly and smiled at him, a relieved expression on her face. Grover and Yuki, who had both been screaming their heads off now stopped and breathed hard, their eyes pinned on the floor they had almost been smashed at.
"Jason, don't try to push yourself too hard! You don't have to keep us up in the air, just cushion the fall!" Annabeth's voice could be heard from above him. Oh yeah, the daughter of Athena she was certainly right with what she said –no surprise there. The son of Jupiter didn't have the strength to maintain at this height, he might just have enough power to actually keep them from breaking every bone in their bodies by cushioning the fall just before the impact.
So he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Alright. Hold on tight, guys!" he said and then let the wind go where ever it wanted to, making them freefall to the ground again. This time, it only lasted for about two seconds though so Jason had to be super careful they weren't hitting the ground the hard way. He converted his eyes to slits and just in time, he willed the winds to get beneath them as much as he could manage, giving it pretty much the rest of power he could offer. Even though he did, they all landed on the ground rather painfully. Yuki fell over immediately, Grover somehow managed to land on his hooves and Jason himself managed to land on his feet alright but due to Piper's weight that was suddenly much heavier than in the air somehow, he dropped over and landed on his side, Piper on top of him. He received a sudden pain in his shoulder and grabbed for it, half screaming even though snow was all over his face.
"Oh gods, sorry! Is everything alright, Jason?" Piper asked, quickly getting up. She seemed pretty shaken but about okay for someone who just dropped off a plane. Jason shook his head and tried to get up, which was difficult with his shoulder. Crap, what had happened? It hurt like Hades.
"Obviously not.." the daughter of Aphrodite concluded, a worried expression on her face and she leaned down to him, examining his shoulder. Jason felt uncomfortable about the attention. His head was still dizzy from passing out and he had used so much of his wind power he felt like dropping dead on the spot. After all, he had used it on the plane as well, while flying. Plus, he was tired and obviously the only one of them who didn't sleep. But he said none of that to Piper, acted like everything was alright and brushed her hand off his shoulder.
"It's okay, I'll manage." He said and looked away from her so she wouldn't notice his real situation. He doubted it would fool her though. When it came to his constitution, Piper was pretty observant. She just nodded though and stood up, helping him stand.
Leo and Annabeth landed relatively good beside them, even though the shoes seemed to have hit their limit as well, they disappeared from Leo's feet a meter above the ground, making the two demigods drop down to their buts. Since Annabeth had been in Leo's arms, she had the better end of it but also looked as if that wasn't the best of experiences.
"Ouch." Was the only comment Leo gave before trying to stand up, rubbing his butt.
"That's what you get for touching mine." Annabeth commented and handed him a hand to help. Jason wondered what that was supposed to mean but didn't ask. That was mainly because he had just done a head count. He lifted his gaze and searched further but couldn't sight anything. A gulp formed in his throat and somehow he was afraid to ask…
"W-where's my sister…?" he asked, still grabbing his shoulder and when he saw Annabeth's smile fading, panic began to rise in his chest. No…no way… His blue eyes scanned around the group and he nearly waited for her to jump out from behind a bush or rock and yell "surprise!" or land next to him. But none of that happened and he let go of his shoulder, completely forgetting the pain. The others looked at him confused, then searched for her as well, eyebrows raised.
"Thalia? THALIA!" he yelled and wanted to start running. In the distance, he could see the smoke where the plane had crashed. If she had still been on there…no, that can't be… Without thinking, he began running in the direction. Suddenly, somebody grabbed his good shoulder, forcing him to stand. It was Annabeth and when Jason turned to look at her, the expression on her face hard to read.
"It's no use…You shouldn't yell around like this." she said, her voice strangely quiet but audible. Her grey eyes told him she was hiding something and Jason relaxed slightly, even if he didn't want to.
"But-" he wanted to protest. His sister was missing…they just dropped off the plane, somebody had played a trick on them and Annabeth wanted him to stop looking?
"I can explain what happened. Look, we two were the last ones in the plane, I tried to keep her going, make her jump down together with me. I put on her parachute and dragged her to the entrance. She struggled though and we were stuck at the last seat before the entrance, her parachute hung on the armrest hopelessly, creating a really tight knot and we didn't have much time to get it lose. I leaned down to do so but suddenly, Thalia had that expression on her face…it was like that time before she was turned into a tree…" Annabeth lost her voice, it was almost impossible to fully understand her now since there was so much weight in her tone, like this was surely dragging her down.
"S-she forced me to let go of her parachute and just pushed me out the door before I could do anything. I didn't see her jump, then Leo caught me…" her voice trailed away and she now looked to the ground, had long let go of Jason's shoulder.
The words dawned into the son of Jupiter like acid. He didn't know what to feel, what to think. Deep down he knew it wasn't Annabeth's fault but part of him wanted to yell at her and blame her anyway. Finally, he balled his fists and closed his blue eyes that seemed close before exploding with electricity. A moment ago, he had been so filled with determination to find her but now his old feelings were back. He was ready to drop, maybe even close to crying, he wasn't really sure about that. Something boiled inside him that wanted to be anger but he was so down and tired right now that the fire was barely noticed. In an attempt to calm himself, he breathed in and out slowly. Piper's hand touched his good shoulder now and she grabbed for his hand as well, pressing it slightly. Jason was glad for the comfort. Suddenly, Leo raised his voice. He hadn't completely realized what Jason felt right now it seemed because his sentence wasn't really something that fit in right here and now.
"Oh crap, we forgot out rucksacks!" he said and facepalmed. All demigods looked at him like he was crazy and Annabeth just shook her head, rolling her eyes. This sentence made the fire inside Jason explode. What the heck was Leo thinking?
"WHAT! Leo! My sister just most probably died and you're worried for your BACKPACK?" the blond took a step closer to his supposed best friend but was again interrupted by Annabeth. While she had looked devastated just a few moments ago, her expression was now stern and unreadable again.
"Thalia isn't dead." She said with certainty in her voice. Jason turned his head to her, looking completely confused.
"But you just said-" he interrupted himself and fully turned in her direction, pointing the way the smoke was still rising.
"Didn't you see that explosion? When she was still in that plane, there's just no way she'd make it out!" he said even though speaking it out load was just way much harder than just thinking about it. He grabbed for his shoulder again and winced, not only from the pain there but also from the hole that had opened up in his chest. The daughter of Athena just shook her head though.
"No, that's right. But the Thalia I know wouldn't just die that easily. We should go and see what's … left of the plane though. I have to agree with Leo that we won't get far without our backpacks." She paused and took a deep breath as if to steady herself for the next sentence. "But if we must, we could succeed without Thalia." She sighed and pressed her lips together, looking in the direction of the explosion and turning away from the others.
Wind roared in his ears. Jason didn't even notice how windy and cold it was down here until now, when the cold suddenly seemed to creep underneath his clothes. His glare was directed at Annabeth and even though he had felt a lack of power just a few seconds ago, he now felt the wind around him like he was it, whirling around angrily and directing his force at the daughter of Athena before him.
"How could you! How could you just say that, I thought you were her friend!" he yelled and his balled fist was clenched so hard he could feel his fingernails. Annabeth now turned around abruptly and was simply glaring back at him. If he was honest, that took him by surprise. He could swear that whenever he had been angry in his previous life until now, nobody had dared to talk back at him. Annabeth's grey eyes were without fear of him, she even took a step towards him now, glaring at him so furiously, Jason himself felt like backing down. There was a storm raging in her irises that made the son of Jupiter cringe and he blinked hard out of astonishment.
"Yeah, that's right! But I'm just speaking the truth, we would-" the furious daughter of Athena interrupted herself and suddenly blinked hard, looking at something behind Jason. Bewildered by her sudden reaction, Jason abruptly turned around, immediately regretting it because his shoulder gave him even more pain. But what he saw shocked even him. There was Annabeth's backpack, floating in mid-air. Just like that.
Then it started moving towards its owner and Jason quickly jumped out of the way, still not getting what happened. The backpack floated to Annabeth and out of instinct and still shocked, Annabeth took it in both hands, blinking hard.
"What in Hades…" she wondered, when suddenly, she noticed a dim light under the flap of the rucksack. She wanted to reach out for it, when it began to move and came forward from under the flap. It was the little ghost light that had followed Annabeth around ever since they had been in that cave. Jason had always thought this was strange but now it seemed to have paid off. Even though Annabeth was still kinda confused and shocked, she now smiled slightly and let the light swirl around her hand.
"Thanks, you don't seem so bad after all." She said and shook her head in amusement. Then she looked back at Jason, seemingly calmed down. They both seemed to notice how much they had been in blind rage because of the loss they believed to have experienced. Jason now also noticed how the others reacted, which he had blended out until now. Piper looked devastated, still holding his hand, which he was glad about. Yuki looked shocked but as if she didn't know how to react exactly –probably because she only knew Thalia for today-and Grover sat on the ground, his hands in his hair and looking to the ground, eyes wide open. He seemed severely shocked and close to a breakdown. Annabeth on the other hand took another deep breath and finally looked back at Jason.
"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it personal. It's just….my mother often says wisdom isn't always what you want to hear." She paused and turned around in the direction of the fire, her hands balling to fists and her posture straightening. She put on her rucksack and made it fit directly around her back, clicking the fasteners around her waist.
"But it's what you need for a quest light this. Come on guys, let's find Thalia."
And with these words, she walked away, the others and Jason following behind her through the wind that just kept getting stronger.
Yeah well, let's see what's left of the plane xP And let's hope there aren't any bad surprises...as if they ever got off without any big surprises *muhahah*. Sorry that this chapter was so pointless but I wanted to clarify this and show you a little what their reactions are and how they manage in the end. What do you think about that little light btw? XD
Hope you liked it, please tell me what you think! :3
