The Quest Completed

MALIAH

It had been a few days since I'd gotten back to camp. I still missed my family a lot, but seeing them gave me a sense of closure that I didn't know I needed. It gave me a sense of normalcy that, even for a demigod, I'd been severely lacking. Being at home and being at camp were so different from one another. At home, I was surrounded by my loving family. Here, at camp, I was isolated when Brandon was gone.

Brandon was supposed to be back for winter break, but I still had a little while until then. It was now the sixth of December, so we were close, but not there yet. The sixth of December. My mind wonders to Tyler and his looming prophecy, the one to save his sister by December the first. He hadn't returned yet, nor had he contacted anyone.

A lot of people were scared. The new girl, Alison, she kept begging Chiron to let her leave. She wanted to go find him. I guess at some point, he'd told her about his task. They hadn't know each other long but she was ready to put herself on the line to find him. I remember when I was her. I shake the bitter thought out of my head and breathe. He'd been gone too long past the deadline, especially since he hadn't contacted anyone. I push my reddish blonde hair back and lean against my father's statue.

I had no idea what I was going to do when Tyler officially came back to camp. Would he stay here with his sister once she came, or would he leave after break and not return until summer? What did I want? Why did I even care. I had prayed to my father, even to Aphrodite, for answers but none came to me. I don't think they even knew how to respond.

I hadn't talked to Apollo since I'd returned to camp, either. I was actively avoiding all of my friends. I was pushing everyone away to attempt to deal with my thoughts and emotions, and I was getting nowhere. I didn't know how people could do this.

There's a knock on my door. I look around, my eyes catching the clock on the wall. It was just after dinner, which I'd avoided again. Why was someone at my cabin? I push myself off of the ground and walk over to the door, opening it. My eyes widen as they fall on three familiar, sweet faces. In front of me stand Jase, Katelynn, and Tony. They're all holding snacks of some sort, bags, and sodas. Jase holds a DVD in his hand.

"Hey, M," he says, "we haven't seen you in a while. We decided to come by and have a movie night."

I smile and step out of the way, all of them filing into my cabin. Jase goes to my laptop and pops in the disk. While he's doing this, Tony and Katelynn are giggling while setting up the sodas and snacks. I grab a few blankets off of the beds and make a pallet, saving a few and some pillows for us to use. Jase sets up the laptop and we all pile in, Jase and Tony on the outer edges and Katelynn and me in the middle.

We're watching the Titanic. I glance up at Jase, almost annoyed and he says, "It was all we could lift, sorry about it."

I sigh. It was still a nice gesture, I guess. I find myself buried in between my friends, for once feeling like I had that familial presence again. It was unfair of me to push them away, the way that I had.

"Thank you, all of you. I honestly don't deserve friends as good as you guys," I say.

"Oh, shut up and enjoy the movie," Katelynn laughs, nudging me.

I roll my eyes playfully, but oblige. After a while of eating snacks, drinking sodas, and watching the movie, I feel my eyes getting heavier. I was leaning on Jase's shoulder, Katelynn already snoring to my left. Tony was asleep as well, and Jase was just as tired as me. I don't know who fell asleep first, but I know my dream was awful.

There's a blonde haired boy, chained and beaten. His ribs are visible and his face is bloody. It's my brother, Jason Grace.

"Jason," I call out to him.

"You have to stop them, Maliah. You have to help them. They're going to need your help," he talks in a rushed manner. I want him to slow down, I don't understand.

"Help who?" I ask him, but he shakes his head.

"The siblings. You have to help them. She'll kill them. Tyler and Sophia are next. You have to help them."

"What about you?" I ask him.

"What about me? She didn't bring me back to life just to kill me again, don't worry about me. Just help them. Help them all. You have to stop her."

I wake up to distant screaming. It's someone calling for help, and I'm not the only one to hear it. Jase, Katelynn, and Tony all stir next to me. They're all confused, groggy, and disoriented. So am I. It doesn't stop us, though. We all get up and walk out of my cabin, following the noise. The sun is a sliver in the sky, so it's early. We find ourselves walking to the border, and I see two figures. One is a boy and he's looming over the body of another demigod. It's Tyler, I realize.

Another figure zooms past my friends and me, running to them. It's Alison. She reaches them and pulls Tyler into a hug. My friends and I step closer and I notice the other figure is a girl, around my age, and I almost gasp. She's unconscious, pale, and she's bleeding. Her dark hair looks like a rat's nest. It hits me that this has to be his sister.

"Get Chiron, now!" I scream.

There's some shuffling behind me and I know that kids are running around, heading to get our councilor. I kneel down, doing my best to push her hair out of her face.

"What happened to her?" I hear someone ask.

"We were attacked, she got hurt really bad. We were close so we ran. She passed out about a mile back so I carried her the rest of the way," Tyler responds.

He'd been crying, I could hear it in his voice. I look up at him, allowing myself to face him, and I realize he's just as disheveled as she is. He looked awful. I look back at her, holding her hand in mine and moving her hair some more.

"It's Sophia, isn't it?" I ask him.

I look up at him, and I don't miss the shock that passes through his eyes. I stare at him, waiting for him to respond to me. It wasn't that big of a deal, was it? Maybe it was.

"Yeah," he says, after a minute, "it's my sister."

I nod. He did it, he found her. I was happy for him, even I could admit that.

"I'm glad you found her," I say.

He doesn't get the chance to respond. Chiron trots up behind us and I turn, looking to him.

"We need to get the child of Poseidon to the infirmary," he says, "hurry."

Jase and Tyler work together to lift the unconscious girl and a group of us follow behind them, walking to the infirmary. The rest of the camp head to the dining pavilion.

In the infirmary, I sit next to Jase and Katelynn. Tony stands against the wall, quietly, and Alison is standing next to Tyler. Tyler is holding his sister's hand and one of Alison's sisters is bandaging the poor girl up. We all just kind of sit in silence, I think we were all unsure that this was it. His quest was finally over, and now everyone was ready for me to get closure and forgive him.

They were all ready for us to move on. I don't know if I could do that, though. I'd kept thinking about what Apollo had told me, that I can't hold onto my wrath. I just couldn't help it, I don't think. It was so easy to tell someone to let something go or that they were overreacting, when it didn't affect you. This was my life. It was my feelings that he played with, and it was me that he betrayed.

I glance back over to the bed and I find his eyes on me.

"How have you been, Mal?" he asks me.

I scoff, "Your sister is quite literally on her death bed and you're worried about me?"

"We haven't really had the chance to talk, so yeah, I guess," he says.

Ouch. That was awkward, and very correct. I ran away from him when he tried. I even ran away from River when I saw Alison with Tyler. Wait a minute. River.

"Where's River?" I ask him, sitting up. I felt a panic.

"He ran. I told him to find his way here after we were attacked. I don't know," he says.

He's upset and I know he is. His sister was hurt and his companion was gone. I do what I was told is my biggest issue, and I react without thinking. I stand up and walk over to Tyler, pulling him into my arms and bury my face in his chest. I remember when he was only an inch taller than me, but that wasn't the case anymore. Despite the new height difference, he still buries his head into me, and he's crying. None of our friends interrupt us at all, not even Alison. They all just let it happen, and so do I.

His body shakes with sobs and I find myself crying with him. We were both so broken and vulnerable right now and I forgot what it felt like to have someone to share that with. I did miss him, even if I couldn't admit that until now. I calm myself down, letting my tears dry up, and then I pull away from the embrace.

"We'll find River," I tell him, looking into his eyes, "I promise, Tyler."

He nods, wiping at his face.

"Thank you," he says.

I nod, "You should go to your cabin and clean up, get some rest. I'll stay here with Sophia and you can come back in a few hours when you're not so exhausted."

He looks hesitant, but he nods. Even after all this time, he knows I'm still someone he can trust. He turns to leave, and to my shock Jase walks him out. After a few more minutes, everyone else slowly disperses out.

Alison approaches me, a look of curiosity on her face, "I know we haven't talked, and I know what it looks like. I just want you to know that nothing has ever happened. I do sort of like him, but he never liked me. I didn't really know why, but now I do. I know you two care about each other a lot. You don't have to pretend you don't."

I look at her, pondering her words, "We have history."

"Not all history is good, but it's not all bad, either. It'll work out exactly how it should. I'm sure of it," she goes to leave but she stops, "make sure you take your own advice. Get some food and some rest, Maliah."

I sigh as my stomach rumbles. She was right. I gave decent advice, but I had no idea how to take it. I look down at the unconscious girl on the bed while Alison's sister quietly works on her. I remember selfishly wondering if she was worth all of it, if she was worth Tyler leaving me. While looking at her, I realized she was. He did exactly what he was supposed to do, and I couldn't hate him for it forever.

Maybe a little bit longer wouldn't hurt, though.