And Farther Still Than That
Chpater Two: Heroes of Olympus
"Pandora Jackson."
The daughter of Poseidon blinked, turning around when she heard the familiar old raspy voice calling her. Her two companions—her self-proclaimed bodyguards since she certainly didn't hire them—turned also but neither blonde smile when they saw the Fury Alecto.
Jason flipped his coin and a golden javelin appear in his hand. He pointed it in the Fury's face, electric blue eyes narrowed. "Stay away from her," he snapped.
Luke wished he had Backbiter—like how Jason and Pandora each had their weapon from life—because without a weapon, he certainly couldn't defend himself and his friends. But still, he stood, tense and ready.
"I would suggest you boys stay down," the Fury hissed coldly, her whip flickered with flames. "I'm not here to talk to either of you, I just want a little chat with my old student."
"Mrs. Dodds!" Pandora greeted brightly. "So good to see you again!"
"You like meeting a monster?" Jason could barely believe his ears.
Alecto chuckled, forked tongue flickering out as she hissed at the two boys who glowered back at her. She ignored them, bringing out the book she had taken from the mortal world, from Pandora's box of possession. Pandora blinked, curiosity shining in her eyes as she leaned forward to see what Alecto held in her hands—the curiosity shining in her eyes was worthy of her namesake.
Sea-green eyes widened even more. "This is..." she groaned once she managed to decipher the book cover. "...my math's workbook. Why—"
Her complain died as Alecto flipped the pages open. The answers were all correctly written, surprising Pandora because she knew she sucked at maths. The last page made her smile; there, written in red ink were the words well done, hero.
"I passed a test?" she teased, accepting the book.
Alecto winked playfully at her, licking her lips. "Too bad you died. I could've used the meal." And she left.
"What's that all about?" Luke asked, peering at the book Pandora was flipping.
"She was once my maths teacher," Pandora answered, closing the book and holding it tight to her chest. She had Alecto at the start of her journey as a demigod, she thought it was appropriate that her pseudo-teacher be there at the end of her journey too. Pandora had considered being reincarnated, if she was a mortal in her next life...she didn't know whether things would go well for her or not.
What if she couldn't see anymore of her friends?
That thought made her clutch Jason's hand with her free hand. The son of Jupiter looked down, wincing at the bone-breaking grip.
"Is something wrong?" Luke asked, frowning at the two's closeness. Sure, he knew they were cousins but they barely knew each other. Why were they so close? "Pandora?"
"I'm fine," Pandora muttered. She looked around the Fields of Asphodel. A color in the midst of the shades made her blink. "There's something there," she told the guys. "Come on—let's go check it out!"
Pandora took off first, trying desperately not to lose sight of the colors among the shade. When she saw the familiar pale figure, she nearly cried with joy, deaf to the calls of the blonde boys behind her. "Nico!" she yelled, heart soaring when the son of Hades turned just in time for her to tackle him to the ground.
The pale boy groaned in pain as his head connected soundly with the bark of the tree but once he registered who was in his arms, he was able to push away the pain and concentrate on the pale face hovering before him. "Pandora?" he murmured in disbelief at the youthful face before him.
The look of shock on his handsome and older face made Pandora realize something. Nico...the boy who was supposed to be physically younger than her by two years was now the same age as her, if not, older. She pulled back, unsure as to who she was clinging onto.
"Nico?" she asked. "You've grown...in such a short amount of time?"
"Short?" Nico whispered in disbelief, cupping her face in his cold ones. "You've been dead for two years now, Pandora, that's not short."
"I've been wandering the Fields for two years?"
The daughter of Poseidon blinked, trying to wrap the concept of time around her head. Nico studied her, noticing that she hadn't changed except the fact that the shade of her skin was as pale as his. When the children of the Big Three stood, Nico also noticed that he was taller than her now.
Pandora noticed, of course, she'd always liked ruffling his hair to remind him that he was short. Now she couldn't do it anymore. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "Why did you only find me after two years?"
"I thought you were in Elysium but no one there had seen you. I didn't think you'd be in Asphodel or Punishment so I assumed you'd chosen rebirth...like Bianca." Nico swallowed as he mentioned the name of his sister who'd died years ago. But then his eyes lit up at the prospect of bringing the girl before him back to life. He grasped her elbow tightly. "Let's go, we'll get Hazel and get out of here. Back to the living."
"What are you talking about?" Pandora protested. "Who's Hazel? And I'm dead!"
"Yes, yes you're dead but..." Nico glanced around, pulling her close before whispering in her ear. "The Doors of Death are opened now, spirits who leave through there will be brought back to life!"
"What about Bian—" Pandora stopped once she caught Nico's anguished gaze. "Wait, Jason and Luke—" she turned abruptly but to her dismay, she didn't see any blonde hair amongst the spirit. She tugged her arm. "Wait, there's two others. Jason Grace and Luke Castellan. I came with them and—"
"Pandora," Nico stressed. "I'm on a quest to bring you and Hazel back to life."
"Who issued that and who's Hazel?" Pandora demanded, frustrated and baffled with her situation. She'd just entered the Fields of Ashpodel and now she was leaving? What happened to Hades' rule?
"Hazel is my...half-sister. Like me, she's born in the 1940s." Nico hesitated, unsure as to how much information he's allowed to give out. "Anyways, Hera—"
"As in the Queen of the gods?"
"No, as in Queen of the cows," Nico rolled his eyes, unable to help the sarcasm seeping through his tone. "Of course the Queen of the gods."
Of all gods to issue such a quest, especially for demigods and her who had offended Hera one too many times, she hadn't expected Hera. "Is she going to torture me or something?" she asked suspiciously.
"No, you're a hero Pandora and the world still needs you."
"I thought I'm a retired demigod?" Her lips twitched upwards into a smile of anticipation—fighting monsters was way sweeter than being dead and trapped in the Fields of Asphodel Though Luke and Jason... "What about Luke and Jason?"
"Someone else is already there for them."
LxPxJ
Jason skidded to a stop and Luke was barely able to stop before he ran right into Jason's taller form. "What's wrong?" Luke asked, pushing Jason out of the way to see what was before him. Jason didn't answer but he didn't need to. "Gods, Pandora—"
"—is safe."
Both blondes whirled around to see the last person they expected: mahogany curls cascaded down the tan female's back, the lady's dress shimmered and her eyes glowed every warm color imaginable; needless to say, she was ethereally beautiful.
"Hera," Luke practically spat. "What do you want? What are you doing here? No, wait, scratch that. How are you here—in Hades' domain uninvited."
"Lady Juno." Jason said in a much more polite tone, shooting Luke a look. He'd never liked the traitor, he'd stepped for the older boy was because of Pandora and because he didn't think the judges judged Luke fairly. Now, he wished Pandora and him had abandoned the traitor back there. How dare the boy be rude to his champion, someone who had been there for him when he was little? A mother he never had? His electric blue eyes glowed—the many times the boys'd argued, Pandora had been there to diffuse the situation but now that she was gone...
The goddess smiled coldly down at the son of Hermes who was bristling angrily before turning to face the taller blonde boy. "Jason, my champion, it has been too long."
"Right," the son of Hermes muttered, backing away. "Ignore me. I'm going after Pandora."
Suddenly, the goddess whirled to the former traitor. Her eyes glowed. "Let's cut the chase. You're both needed up there, in the living. Our enemies of the earth stirs and a quest is needed to save me, the beginning of something bigger."
"Er, you're trapped here?"
The goddess' eyes blazed when Luke said that. "No, you fool—" she coughed weakly, her form flickering. "I do not have much time. Take my hand, my captors are waking and they'll notice what I'm doing soon enough—"
"If you're trapped, why are you wasting time on us instead of busting yourself out?" Jason dared to venture though one look from his champion had his hand in hers.
Hera/Juno did not answer. Her lower lip curled when Luke didn't deign to reach out to her. "Oh, son of Hermes, don't you want to see that Annabeth girl or...Pandora again?"
From the jerk of his shoulders, it clearly affected Luke. The blonde looked up at the goddess with grudging admiration, the temptation obviously too much for him as he reached out to grab the goddess' hand.
"Are you sure you're not the goddess of blackmail and bribery?"
Hera/Juno smiled, more warmly this time but still on the scale of cold. She glowed and the spirits of the dead shied away as the souls combined, disappearing in a burst of sparkles. Little did those shades know, they were witnesses to a beginning of a new war and era.
LxPxJ
A/N: This story is going to be a threesome. But when I write this chapter, I'm tempted to write a Big Three Union – Jason/Percy/Nico. And Luke can be with Annabeth. So is it going to be a JxPxN or JxPxL? Review and tell me!