Disclaimer:
I do not own the PJO characters
"J-Jamie?" I whimpered.
"Just calm down" he soothed, "it'll all be okay."
"B-But you're dead."
"Does it look like I'm dead," Jamie smiled.
Suddenly Jamie was knocked over by none other than Damian. "Trish! Calm down, please!" He yelled.
"No," I said as I shook my head, "it's just an illusion, your not here you left me." It must be the Hecate cabin trying to calm me down, I thought.
"Trish please," fake Damian pleaded.
"I-I can't!" I cried, "he left me!"
"Yes but I'm back," both Jamie and Damian said.
I looked away from the two illusions, not wanting to face the two people I cared most about. I might have cared about both of them, but one thing was different. Damian knows me better than anyone. Even illusion Damian did.
Damian rushes forwards through the harsh wind and darkness. Keeping close to the ground. "Please Trish, it's me."
I shook my head. Once beside me, Damian grabbed me by the shoulders. He didn't feel like an illusion though. "I'll always be here for you, never again will I leave your side." The illusion leaned in closer and closer till our lips were touching. Definitely not an illusion.
In that instance, I just melted away. The winds calmed and the sky grew lighter. I felt Damian's arms tighten around me, protectively.
"You came back," I whispered.
"We were in Indiana when I made Hazel turn around, I couldn't do it."
I smiled slightly at this.
"Hey!" A voice yelled. I looked up to see Jamie standing over us. The sun was bright so I had to squint. I motioned for Damian to help me stand up. Once up, I touched Jamie's cheek.
"How?" Was all I said.
"I'll explain later but not in front of all these people," He said. "But first things first." He glared at Damian. "Why are you kissing my girlfriend!" In one swift motion, Jamie grabbed me from Damian and pushed him away. I just stood there, trying not to fall since I was so weak from what just happened. I looked at Jamie with a confused look on my face.
"I'm not your girlfriend," I snarled, pulling my arm away from his grasp, which made me fall to the ground.
Damian rushed over and picked me up bridal style. I snuggled closer into Damian to tell Jamie I meant it.
Jamie didn't even seem hurt from this comment. "But you were mine before I died!" He yelled. I looked around at the people who were starting to stir.
"Let's talk about this in my cabin," I said.
As Damian carried me, I leaned my head on him. Jamie seemed to scowl at Damian as we walked. Once inside, Jamie went over to his bed and sat on it while Damian sat me on mine then sat next to me, a protective arm around my shoulders.
"Jamie, what happened?" I asked.
"Should I start from the cave or when I woke up laying in the grass over there?"
"The cave."
"Let's see," Jamie said, still not taking his eyes off of Damian, "I found you, got attacked by giants, died, lived in the underworld for how long?"
"Five and a half years," I said.
"Yeah, woke up in the grass, that's about it."
I looked at Jamie, studying him. "You're not telling me something are you?"
"No, I'm telling the truth."
"I didn't ask if you were telling the truth or not, I asked if you were hiding something?" I said a bit louder.
He pretended to think about it for a little while. "Nope."
Even though I was weak, I managed to stand up. "What is it?" I demanded
"Fine, fine," he said with his hands in the air, "there's no reason to hide it from you anyway, he'll just tell you later."
I paused. "W-who's he?"
"Oh I think you know," Jamie smiled. I sat back down. "When you left, I was so desperate to find you, I made a deal with him and he said that he'll show me where you were, but in return I had to give part of myself to him. A little price to pay for someone you love, don't you think?"
"He brought you back, didn't he," I snarled.
"I don't know for sure, but it wasn't in our plan for me to die, so probably. Unfortunately it took him, like you said five and a half years, because he had to revive you first. You did know you died, right?"
I nodded. "One more thing," Jamie said, "can you create a quick bubble around us?"
I didn't want to but I did what he asked, he was still my friend I suppose. Kind of. I made a bubble around the three of us as Jamie looked at Damian. "I meant without him," Jamie said as he scrunched up his nose.
"He's staying."
"Fine," Jamie sank down in the bed, his shoulders slumped, he seemed to relax.
"Trish you have to help me," he said, "please, you gotta believe me, I didn't mean to make the deal with him, I wasn't in the right mind. And now I can't get out of it, he wants me to bring you to him. I can't Trish, I just can't. I still love you."
Damian flinched at this. "But what about what you just said?" He asked.
"That's all just an act, I need to make Taturus believe me. I knew that he couldn't hear through your bubble." Jamie told me. "Please you gotta help me."
"Can I talk to you, alone?" Damian whispered in my ear.
I nodded. I then looked over to Jamie. "We'll be back, we just need to… discuss something." I stood up and grabbed Damian's hand for support, then led him to the bathroom.
Once in, Damian closed the door behind us. "What?" I asked.
"Do you really think we can trust him?" He asked.
"Me, yes. You? No."
"But what if something goes wrong and he tricks us?"
"Then we'll have each other."
"B-but Trish, you heard him, he said that he still loves you," This seemed hard for Damian to spit out.
"You love me, don't you?" I asked.
"Of course I do!" Damian said quickly, "but-."
"But nothing. You have nothing to worry about."
"But."
"Nothing. Plus you did something no one was able to do, not even Jamie, you found me." I stood on my tippy toes and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Now, first we find your mother, if you're okay with it. Then we figured out what to do about Jamie."
"I'll do whatever." Damian said, this made me smile. "I just can't believe you're still in one piece, you were crying over Jamie this morning, now he's back and you seem completely fine with it."
"What can I say," I shrugged, "after all that's happened since my incident, not a lot surprises me anymore."
When we walked out, we saw Jamie fiddling with the ring he gave me, with the three stars. "Why did you take it off," he asked me.
I ignored his question. "We've agreed to help you, but it depends what it is. First though Damian and I have something we need to take care of, we'll be back in a few days."
"I'm going with you," Jamie said, standing up.
"No!" Damian said quickly.
"I have to go," Jamie argued, "Where Trish goes, I go."
"We don't know if we trust you yet," I said, "you sold your soul to the devil, it might have been for the right reason but to the wrong person. So shut up, stay here, and don't get in trouble. You got that?"
"Trish, you've known me for years! You can trust me."
"Jamie, you died and now your back, I don't know who or what I can trust. And what did I say about shutting up?" And with that I walked out the doorway, putting the bubble down and Damian in tow.
"Don't you think you were a little harsh with him? He literally just came back from the dead," Damian said.
"He's fine, I'm just frazzled is all."
"I thought you said not a lot surprised you anymore?" Damian laughed.
"Frazzled is not surprised, it's two completely different things."
Damian laughed once more and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "You're cute, you know that?"
"Don't call me cute," I said in disgust.
Damian leaned over and kissed my forehead. I smiled as I put my arm around his waist. "Where are we going?" I asked.
"I don't know, I was following you."
"I only left the cabin because of Jamie." I started laughing as I realized we've been walking to nowhere.
"Well how about this," Damian said, "we go to my moms, then go back to Camp Jupiter. Take our minds off of what just happened, and get your sister."
"I have an idea as well. When we get to Camp Jupiter, we kidnap Frank and Hazel and throw them a surprise wedding?"
"Is that really a good idea? Their praetors, they have almost no free time."
"Fine, no kidnapping, but definitely a surprise wedding."
"Sure, but what about during the wedding, who's gonna look after the camp? And the wedding is based around the bride and what the bride wants, isn't it?"
"First, we can always have it at camp, and if anything goes wrong then I'll be there. Second, I'm sure if we talk to Annabeth and Calypso, they'll be able to tell us what Hazel wants, she's been talking about the wedding non stop for months."
"Okay, so, my mother's, then to Camp Jupiter to plan Hazel and Frank's wedding. Sounds good?"
"Perfect," I smiled.
Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed. AN: ok I just found out that Rick Riordan is co-writing a Will and Nico book with Mark Oshiro. I AM SOOO EXCITED! YAYAYAYY! Stay safe!
-Lou Ellen and Sydney
