So already we were in for an interesting morning. Everyone had their own tasks at hand, which was fine, I joined the scouting team with Snowstorm who had finally returned from her escape away from Arion, though she refused to tell me where she'd been and what she had got up to and I had a sneaking suspicion that if she could, she would be blushing. Anyway, that was a discussion for another time. We flew out together to scout the area with Frank and Hazel, everything seemed relatively fine in the sense that nothing tried to attack and eat us, but when I started to hear Blackjack's voice on the wind calling to me for help, I figured something had gone down with Percy's team. 'Ugh, that moon-brained yearling is utterly helpless. What trouble has he gotten himself into now?' Snowstorm complained as I gave a shout to Frank who was currently flying as a crow next to me that I was going to check on my brother. Patting Snow's neck, she quickly had us flying in the direction of the highway.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good."
'Stallions. They are completely unreliable.'
"That comment tasted a little salty, Snow. Something got your tail in a twist?" In response to that Snow bucked in the air to throw me a little but I kept my seat and laughed as she grumbled further under her breath. Something definitely had happened whilst she had been gone, and now I really wanted to know what. For now I let it slide, however, because we had to find Blackjack and figure out what was going on with Percy, Piper and Jason who had all gone looking for Bacchus since Piper had seen him in the reflection of her knife. Personally I was rather glad I didn't have to meet Bacchus because if Mr D was anything to go by, I doubted I would have liked him very much anyway. Especially considering the gods are all a little nuts at the moment because of their two personalities colliding and fighting for control over one body, I figured it was in everyone's best interests to stay away from gods until they weren't so cuckoo.
'Lily, I can see them now. It appears your brother and the one named Jason are fighting one another.'
"What?!" I practically shrieked as Snow snorted and plummeted into a nose dive. Needing to see this for myself, I allowed my vision to come back to me so that I could see the bright sunflower fields and the dusty road far below, three figures little more than inky smudges until they rapidly became distinguishable. Piper was speaking to my brother Percy, Jason lying on the ground unmoving. I had no idea what had happened, but it did not look good. It was only after Blackjack had knocked Percy out from behind that Snow and I reached them, her wings spreading with a powerful beating against the air that caused the sunflowers to arch and ripple as I leaped from her back. "What in Hades' name happened?!" I demanded as Piper squeaked with worry, rushing forwards whilst asking Blackjack if he'd just killed Percy which made the black stallion snort with a toss of his mane.
'Man, what kind of guy kills his own rider? Dumb question, of course he's not dead. Oh, hey boss lady, sugar-pie. What's up?'
"Hey Blackjack, care to explain what is happening here?" Shooting him a look, Blackjack was quick to tell me about the fight between Jason and Percy after some freaky sounding lady started talking from somewhere. His explanation wasn't exactly great, but Piper filled in with the details as she babbled like a nervous wreck, fussing over Jason as I quickly made sure that both my brother and Jason were indeed still alive and only had some severe lumps on their heads which they were going to regret when they were awake. "Eidolans? Never heard of them." Apparently, some spirits were possessing the boys, which explains why they suddenly tried to kill each other just because Gaia ordered them too. "Honestly Percy, you couldn't dream up half the stuff you go through. We'll put this on the list of things we don't tell mom, alright?" Piper helped me to get both the boys onto Blackjack, though she struggled with their weight and size so mostly I just grabbed them and hauled them up to sling them over Blackjack's back. Having trained and worked out for the past five years meant I was pretty strong, though Jason did require both of us to get him up off the ground as deadweight.
Piper rode with me and Snowstorm back to the ship where once again Jason had to go to the infirmary and get treated for a head wound only this time he had my brother for company. To conserve ambrosia, we only gave a little each to the boys and relied on mine and Coach Hedge's healing abilities to work on the rest since we didn't want to use up all our supplies before we'd even made it across the Atlantic. Leo had us now turned and sailing in the direction of Atlanta, because apparently that was where we needed to go. Whatever Bacchus was like compared to Mr D, he was at least more forthcoming with help and advice so that was something. Atlanta it was. Everything was explained by Piper at another meeting, everyone gathered at the table where she told us everything that had happened from meeting Mr D – or Bacchus – to the boys trying to take one another's heads off and revealing the eidolons that were possessing them. At least we now knew why Leo had suddenly turned loopy and open fired on New Rome. I bet that was a weight off his mind.
Jason was eager to try and contact Reyna to tell her the truth, convinced that this would smooth everything over especially if Piper tried to convince her though I felt bad for the girl at that moment, because apparently Jason was just as dense and clueless as my brother could be at times. Even I had sensed the tension around Piper whenever Reyna was brought up, who could blame her? Jason was still very much a Roman praetor in his heart and had been close to Reyna before. Idiots. I swear all boys were idiots. "I could try," she offered though I got the feeling she wasn't all that enthusiastic about it. "But Octavian is the one we have to worry about. In my dagger blade, I saw him taking control of the Roman crowd. I'm not sure Reyna could stop him."
"A well-spoken politician will always be more dangerous than a soldier with a sword." I mused aloud, the thought jumping into my head and I was rather proud of how profound it sounded. "If Octavian takes over then we have no chance of persuading the Romans to listen. Any action we take to try and make them see reason will only add fuel to the fire. Right?" Frank and Hazel both agreed with little hums or grunts which helped me distinguish them from the others.
"They're both right." Frank spoke up, referring to both myself and Piper. "This afternoon when we were scouting, we saw eagles again. They were a long way off, but closing fast. Octavian is on the warpath."
"This is exactly the sort of opportunity Octavian has always wanted. He'll try to seize power. If Reyna objects, he'll say she's soft on the Greeks. As for those eagles…it's like they could smell us." Giant eagles that could track scents even through the air? Well this day just keeps on getting better and better.
"They can. Roman eagles can hunt demigods by their magical scent even better than monsters can. This ship might conceal us somewhat, but not completely – not from them." This did not exactly raise anybody's spirits, though Leo attempted to brighten the mood by saying he should have installed a device that made the entire ship and everyone on it smell like a chicken nugget. I protested to the thought of smelling like fried chicken and Hazel did not even know what a chicken nugget was, which made sense if you remember the fact that she had technically been dead for seventy years. Leo started to deviate in order to explain what a chicken nugget was however Annabeth reigned the conversation back in, returning it to the important stuff. It was determined that after we crossed the Atlantic, the Romans would give up chasing us which was a good thing, though this would then open a new door to a whole load of new nightmares. Demigod quests were just so thrilling, right? At the very least, we had some new information to go on since Bacchus had been so forthcoming before he'd abandoned ship and left the others to be stuck in Gaia's trap. Ephialtes. That's the name Bacchus had given them. Oh, and apparently Bacchus had killed the twin giants. Go figure.
"Twin giants, like Piper saw in her blade…I remember a story about twin giants." Annabeth spoke up though her voice was distant the way it went whenever she was thinking deeply about something. "They tried to reach Mount Olympus by piling up a bunch of mountains." That's very encouraging. Thank you Annabeth.
"Well, that's great. Giants who can use mountains like building blocks. And you say Bacchus killed these guys with a pinecone on a stick?" I'm glad I'm not the only one around here who thinks that Bacchus with a pinecone had ever killed two giants was completely ridiculous.
"Something like that. I don't think we should count on his help this time." Percy answered, making an already sombre mood darken all the more. "He wanted a tribute, and he made it pretty clear it would be a tribute we couldn't handle." Fantastic. Gods were just so helpful, weren't they? They come down, give demigods tales of woe and tragedy, send them off on dangerous quests to get killed, then don't even lift a finger to help when the chips are down. Unfortunately, it continued to go downhill. According to Piper, Gaia required the blood of two demigods to awaken fully, one male and one female, which prompted Leo to recall how Khione had told them how spilling Jason's blood would taint the Wolf House for generations. Now the goddess's words seemed far more important, Percy now also making a connection to something that Polybotes had said about killing him and spilling his blood to awaken Gaia. Everyone felt daunted by the prospect that our blood could very well be used to awaken Gaia.
"You think the giants would use our blood…the blood of two of us…?" Piper sounded like she was shaking which made me want to go over and put my arm around her, but I figured she wouldn't want me drawing attention to the fact that she sounded afraid so I stayed put and tried to send what I hoped to be a sympathetic look her way.
"I don't know, but until we figure it out I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured." There was a collective agreement to this, pressure now weighing down on all of our shoulders. If our blood had power, then I dreaded to think what some ancient monsters and giants could do with it.
"But how do we figure it out?" Hazel voiced, sounding just as nervous as Piper as she recalled all the important factors in this one quest. "The Mark of Athena, the twins, Ella's prophecy…how does it all fit together?" At this point in time, none of us had a definitive answer, just tiny fragments of what seemed to be a very large puzzle that would probably only make sense in hindsight.
"We shouldn't worry about figuring out every last detail right now." Keeping my voice level to exude calmness, I leaned back in my seat and drummed my fingers against the table. "The more you try to figure out before its time the less likely it'll straighten itself out. We're already on the right path and thanks to Piper, we have more of an idea of what we need to do before we cross the Atlantic. What was that guy's name again? Porkies or something?" I could hear my brother grinning through his pizza.
"Phorcys." Phorcys was an older sea god who had been around a lot longer than our dad. Admittedly I was rather curious to meet this guy, though we didn't yet know if he was going to help us or not. Like I said. Gods tended to be very unhelpful. I thought that was going to be the end of the meeting once Leo had established we'd be in Atlanta by noon the next day, however Piper announced something that sent a chill down my spine. The eidolons were still amongst us. It was only thank to Piper that we could identify them at all, using her charm-speak to force them to reveal themselves and sure enough, Leo, Percy and Jason all raised their hands at her command. It got tense for a while, Jason even drawing his sword with the eidolons now speaking and controlling the bodies of the boys as their eyes burned a bright golden hue. I regretted using my sight to see who had raised their hands, because the moment Jason had looked at me with those golden eyes, I screamed. Not a short, surprised scream, but a full on screech of terror that made everyone leap out of their skins and stare at me as I flew out of my chair and press my back against a wall with Amaryllis in trident form grasped in my hands, pointed directly at Jason's chest.
Pure terror slammed against me as in my panic I forgot that it was Jason I was looking at and not Luke when he was being possessed by Kronos. Memories of pain and unresolved trauma hammered against the doors that I had firmly locked and bolted to try and keep those kind of memories from resurfacing, but in that moment, all I could think was Kronos and recall the cold, oppressive presence I had been forced to contend with on a daily basis. It almost broke me because I was not mentally prepared for it. My scream threw everyone into a panic and Piper lost control over the eidolons, however Hazel was the one to recover first and helped bring the situation back into order so that Piper could try again, using her power to force the eidolons to leave after swearing on the River Styx never to return or possess any member of the crew. I was glad when they were gone, but the damage had already been done. I was shaking from head to toe, so much so that Amaryllis trembled until eventually my hands seized up and lost their grip on my weapon so that she dropped to the ground with a clatter, ice spreading across the floor where she lay.
I was crying. Thick streams of tears running down my face as I sank to the ground whilst the boys all recovered, but once it was established that they were no longer possessed, all attention turned to me. Percy was at my side in an instant, trying to get me to look up and tell him what was wrong but I had curled up into a ball and had no intention of opening up any time soon. All I could think about was those golden eyes, so beautiful, yet they triggered so many hurtful memories that I couldn't even form a single word. I'd lost my composure and it had run far away from me, refusing to come back as I sobbed and rocked whilst my brother tried to comfort me with his arms and soft words. The others were deeply confused and only Annabeth understood, joining Percy to try and help me calm down. It was Piper who again saved the day, tentatively approaching and with her charm-speak, her words flowed over me like warm sunlight as she whispered. "Deep breaths Lily, just breathe. You're safe here, everything is alright so calm down and don't be afraid. We're here. You're safe." It was strange to feel the effects of Piper's powers having seen it in action on others myself. It felt like I had no choice but to listen to her, even yearning to obey as I thought it would make her happy. I believed her when she said I was safe and listened when she told me to breathe, taking in a deep gulp of air and exhaling all my fears as Annabeth stroked my hair and Percy continued to hold me in a protective embrace. "Just relax, you're in a safe space. We're all here for you Lily."
Now that I was calmer I was able to let go of my knees and lift my head in order to see everyone crowded in front of me. They all looked concerned and Leo was fidgeting nervously the way he did when he was unsure of what to do, staring at me in complete shock. "Dude, what the heck was that all about?" Though he still couldn't help that runaway mouth of his.
"Don't ask, Leo. It's personal." Percy snapped rather defensively so I lifted my hand to squeeze his, murmuring that I was okay and to be nice to Leo.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to flip out like that." I apologised with a look to Jason who seemed to know that he was the reason that I had totally lost it. He was chewing on his lip, biting down on it like he was trying to think of what to say but was coming up short. With everyone looking at me like that, I felt obligated to give them at least some kind of explanation. "I'm sorry. It's just…you remind me of someone I know, Jason, and when your eyes turned gold because of the eidolons…it brought back a lot of painful memories." He looked at me with surprise, but now his mouth moved before he could even check himself.
"Luke." Everyone at Camp Half-Blood knew the story and Jason had been there long enough to have heard it at least a dozen times so he knew exactly who Luke was. I flinched at the name, because now a fresh wave of dark feelings began to sweep through me. Luke was a sore subject, and though I refused to admit to anyone, the false bravado I carried around with me whenever someone brought him up was just that. False. For all my talk over the fact that I didn't care if Luke had lost touch or had vanished into the blue, that I wasn't going to let my feelings for him turn me into a mess, I was lying. I cried at the most random times whenever something reminded me of him and I had gotten used to sleeping on a soaking wet pillow because I cried before, during and after sleep. Since I always prided myself on being independent and strong, I never let anyone know just how deeply his absence affected me, but right here in this vulnerable moment, my walls and defences were completely useless. Fresh tears began to fall and once they started, they wouldn't stop. I let my sight fade away because I didn't want to see everyone staring at me whilst I was in this state, instead forcing a smile onto my face and saying that I was going to get some fresh air for a while.
Percy wanted to follow me but I was immeasurably glad his girlfriend was so clever, because Annabeth didn't let him. She knew I needed space so held my brother back as I walked calmly away in order to straighten myself out. The air on the deck was refreshing, but feeling the breeze against my face only reminded me of the cold trails of tears. I hastily attempted to dry away the excess and clean myself up, pacing up and down the deck to try and walk off the jitters that had control over me but now Luke was all I could think about. I wanted to know where he was and why I couldn't contact him, why he hadn't come back yet and why…just why? I recalled how dad had said if Luke ever made me cry I should throw him into the ocean and in my spikes of rage after so much moping I would swear I would do just that, but then the anger would pass and I'd return to being anxious and afraid. If ever he did show up again, Luke would have to have the excuse of the millennia to make up for everything and proceed to grovel at my feet if he ever wanted my forgiveness. Yet still, despite everything, I knew I would, because I was utterly and hopelessly in love with him despite all of my logic and sense telling me that I shouldn't because it was stupid to wait around for a guy who had been the cause of so much suffering.
My face turned upwards to the sky and I wondered if the stars were out yet. It felt late and the air tasted clear and serene which usually meant it was a clear night. I wondered if Aphrodite was enjoying this show right now, watching me cry and pine for a guy who may have very well chosen to abandon me. Love truly was the most dangerous thing in all the world. It made even the most clear headed people lose their senses, and it appeared I was one of those morons. It could make you endure all kinds of hardships and horrors, yet still at the end persuade you to forgive the person that inflicted them upon you. For the sake of love, you could face down titans and giants, monsters and demons even when you would get nothing in return. Love was cruel, and I had a feeling that this was only the beginning.
Love sucked.