Chapter 22

He woke up to someone gently shaking him. Looking up Jarred saw it was his oldest brother, Jake.

"It's time to go..." He said with a small smile on his face. "The others are waiting by the tree."

With that Jarred stood up stiffly, and half asleep. Grabbing his bag, he felt a heavy presence on his neck. Jarred gently touched the silver chain and gem which still had a fairly bright glow.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Jake raise an eyebrow at the necklace but didn't say anything.

Jarred told his brother his goodbyes and jogged to Thalia's tree where the others were waiting.

Pascal was sitting in the grass his eyes dull as he twirled his hat in his hands, his messy curly blonde hair being whipped around in the wind. Stephanie stood beside him, rubbing his shoulders to try and give him comfort.

As he reached them, he slowed down at a walk. "You guys ready?" Jarred asked simply. His expression remained calm and content.

They nodded just as Chiron walked up to them. "Godspeed heroes. I pray for your success." he said.

The three thanked Chiron and headed down the hill. Argus had just pulled up in a black car.

The three piled into the backseat of the car with Stephanie in between the two boys. Argus grunted at them then pulled out onto the driveway.

Jarred looked out the window, keeping silent. He gently rubbed the smooth red gem with his finger. Just hang on until I get back Alice...

The gem gave out a flash of warmth in his hand as if it could hear him. As if Alice could hear him. Jarred smiled. He could almost hear her voice in his head. I believe in you...

Stephanie looked at him curiously. "Jarred, what's that?"

Jarred hesitated. "Just...something that Arcus gave me to keep tabs on Alice."

She nodded, understanding.

The gem suddenly became slightly colder in Jarred's hand , the glow slightly dimmer. Normally he wouldn't have noticed it but right now, he was holding the one thing that links him to Alice.

He looked down at the stone. That one small loss of warmth made the stone feel much colder than it really was.

Jarred? Are you okay?" Stephanie asked her eyebrows furrowing in worry. Pascal just stayed silent. He had been staring out the window ever since they got in the car.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." He whispered.

Stephanie sighed and rests her head against Jarred's shoulder. "It's going to be alright..." she whispered.

He felt a small blush form on his cheeks. "I know..." He whispered back.

At the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Pascal flinch but he waved it off. It's probably nothing...

Jarred felt the world go dark as he slipped into sleep. HIs dreams were taunted by nightmares, ones where they were too late to save Alice.

"Jarred...Jarred wake up. We're here."

Jarred slowly sat up. "We are?" He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "How long have I been asleep?"

"We're at the train station." Stephanie said, smiling softly at him as she brushed a few tufts of hair from his face. "You've been asleep for the ride here."

Jarred looked at her softly. "Oh." He looked past her. "Where'd Pascal go?"

"He went ahead to get the tickets." Stephanie said. "We'll be riding a train for the most part then either bus or taxi after that."

He nodded and opened the door. "Come on, let's go meet him there."

Jarred stepped out of the car just as Pascal returned. "I got the tickets. We better go inside." He said in a flat voice, his hat shadowing his eyes.

"Uh, sure." Jarred looked at Pascal confused. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He said before nodding to Argus. The son of Hermes grabbed his bags and went inside the station.

Jarred looked to Stephanie who just shrugged. The two grabbed their bags and followed Pascal.

They entered at train, following Pascal who Jarred noticed was walking a bit stiffly. Looking around, Jarred saw that it was an old train they had boarded. Entering an empty compartment, Pascal sat down on one of the two plush seats near the window.

Jarred sat down, keeping a good distance away from the window. "Hey Pascal, what's our stop on this train?"

"I don't remember the name..." Pascal muttered. Stephanie put her bags in the overhead racks before sitting down next to Jarred. He noticed that Pascal's eyes seemed to harden just a bit as the son of Hermes stared out the window. "All I remember is we get off after two stops."

"Pascal are you sure you're okay?" Jarred asked.

"I'm fine. We should rest. It's going to be a long train ride." Pascal replied before settling down, his hat tipped down to cover his eyes.

Jarred sighed before leaning back in his seat. He wasn't tired, so he remained silent while the others rested. What can a demigod do on a train heading to a town we don't know the name of...

He suddenly felt a pressure on his side. Jarred turned his head and saw Stephanie leaning against him, fast asleep. Pascal seemed to twitch a bit but then settled down again.

Jarred sighed quietly, closing his eyes to let his mind wander. Memories of his mother were the first to come to mind. Most were bad but some made him smile faintly.

He heard a shuffling in the corner of the compartment but didn't open his eyes. What did jolt him was the sound of a choked sob and the opening and closing of their compartment door.

Jarred opened his eyes to see Pascal was gone. He carefully stood up, careful not to disturb Stephanie, before walking out the door. "Pascal?"

The son of Hermes could not be seen. Looking left and right, Jarred saw only empty hallways and the occasional kid from other compartments. He stepped fully out into the hall and gave one more look before walking down to the right. He's gotta be around he somewhere.

Jarred looked through unoccupied compartments, hoping that Pascal was there. No such luck.

Jarred let out a sigh. "He couldn't have gone far..."

Just then, the boy he was looking for stepped out from what Jarred could was a bathroom. Pascal's eyes were red and slightly puffy. His whole face and some of his hair was wet as he scratched his neck. He didn't seem to notice Jarred as the younger boy went down another hallway, his shoulders hunched.

"Pascal!" He called hurrying to catch up with the younger boy.

Either Pascal didn't hear Jarred or ignored him as the son of Hermes slipped into the next part of the train.

Jarred followed him and froze. Curse the gods... He thought bitterly, the whole car was crowded for the lunch rush! He tried looking for his friend by searching for that familiar hat but it seemed that Pascal had taken it off.

Okay, when I find Pascal, I'm going to kill him... He looked around for his friend a while longer before giving up and heading back to their compartment.

When he entered the compartment, he found that Stephanie was awake. "Where were you?" She asked, worry in her voice.

"Looking for Pascal." He said simply. "I saw him before, he looked pretty upset." He hesitated slightly. "I lost him in the dining car."

Stephanie placed a hand on his arm. "He'll come around. Why don't you get some rest?"

He blocked the sun out of his eyes. "Okay, but wake me up if he comes back." He said before lying down on the other bench and falling asleep.

"Jarred...Jarred..."

Jarred mumbled something before sitting up stiffly. "Hmm?"

"Come on wake up Warhead." An amused voice sounded. "I've bought food."

Jarred stretched and blinked a few times to see who was talking. His first thought was Nate, but no, she was back at camp.

Pascal sat at the plush seat opposite him with a small table full of food. The son of Hermes was smirking at him but his eyes looked dead. "No I'm not Nate, Jarred. You must really be hungry."

"Yeah, I didn't have breakfast. I overslept." The son of Ares smirked.

Pascal smirked wider though his eyes remained the same. He pushed some of the plates forward. "Eat then." He said. "I got enough for you and Stephanie."

"Thanks." He took the plate and ate slowly Stephanie followed his lead and took the other plate. "Hey, how come you didn't stop when I called to your earlier?" He asked.

Pascal's eyes flickered but then he tilted his head in confusion. "You did? I didn't hear anyone call me out."

"Hmm, you probably didn't hear me then." Jarred said, continued to eat.

"I guess." Pascal replied as he leaned back on his chair, his hat tilting down slightly.

"Hey, have you ever noticed that kids at camp sometimes call Argus, Arcus and Arcus, Argus?" Jarred said.

Stephanie snickered. "Most likely it's because there's only a one letter difference with their names."

"I know but still, it's just weird. You'd think people wouldn't get that mixed up. You know with Argus having lots of...you know, eyes."

Stephanie just shrugged while Pascal chuckled as he stared out the window, his eyes dim.

Jarred got a sly smile and picked up a strawberry that had come with his pancakes. Glancing at Stephanie for her to be quiet, he threw it at Pascal, hitting him in the cheek.

Pascal slowly turned his head and stared at Jarred. For one shocking moment his eyes were filled with terrifying anger before it abruptly changed to teasing mischief. "You're going to pay for that."

"Is that a challenge I hear in your voice?" He snickered.

Pascal smirked before suddenly flinging the same strawberry at Jarred, hitting the son of Ares right in the middle of his forehead.

A small red stain remained from where the strawberry hit. Jarred clapped his hands briefly. "Well done well done." He picked up a stack of pancakes. "Try this on for size!" He threw pancakes at the other boy, getting Pascal covered in butter and syrup. Jarred got his hands in the same situation, sticky and slippery

Pascal chuckled as he stripped off his hat and put it on the overhead rack. Stephanie scooted far away from them as Pascal looked up at Jarred, a manic look in his eyes. The same flash of anger briefly showed before Pascal smirked, holding up a cup of syrup.

"Don't you da-" Jarred was cut off when Pascal poured the syrup over top of his head. He remained frozen as the sticky fluid ran over his hair, clothes and face.

Pascal smiled maniacally, the anger in his eyes more visible before he grabbed his hat and sprinted out the doorway.

"Is it me or did he look like he was going to get something to kill me?" Jarred asked Stephanie as he stood up, sticky and a mess.

Stephanie's eyebrows were furrowed as she stared at the doorway. 'I...I'm not sure..."

"Well, let's go find out shall we?" He said walking into the hallway.

"Um Jarred?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

Stephanie bit her lip as she blushed. "Maybe you should...uhm...change?" she said as she eyed his shirt.

Jarred looked down at himself and nodded. "Yeah you're probably right..." He felt his cheeks flush a bit.

Stephanie blushed harder. "Maybe...Maybe I should step out?"

"Y-yeah." Jarred could feel his face get warmer as he went into the compartment while Stephanie went pass him.

Just as his luck would have it, he slipped on some of the syrup on the floor. He fell bringing Stephanie down with him.

He winced as he landed on one of his hands. That at the moment was the least of his worries as he looked down at the brown haired girl. Jarred felt his cheeks turn a bright red. "I-I..."

Stephanie was staring up at him, her eyes wide and she was blushing furiously. "Uhm..."

"Sorry..." He whispered, his hair fell in front of his eyes so Stephanie could only see that he was blushing.

"I-it's alright." Stephanie said, averting her eyes. "Could you...get off?"

He stood up and helped her too her feet. He remained extremely silent, too embarrassed to speak.

"I'm...going to change." She said as she gestured to her syrup covered blouse before grabbing her bag and walking out the door.

Jarred closed the door behind her then went into the compartment's comfort room cubicle. He quickly rinsed out his hair before changing into a fresh pair of clothes. He was glad Pascal bought the first class compartment.

Just as he stepped out of the cubicle, Stephanie stepped inside the compartment, her hair wet and wearing new clothes.

He didn't look at her, still embarrassed.

" Jarred? I'm sorry." She said, not looking at him.

"It's fine, it wasn't your fault." He gave her a small smile, forcing himself to look up at her.

Her cheeks were still red but she smiled apologetically at him.

Jarred grabbed a towel to dry his hair. After he did, the black strands stood up looking uncombed and fuzzy.

Stephanie giggled and reached out to pat his hair down, the previous events forgotten. "Fuzzy head." She snickered.

He chuckled. "Yeah it does that."

She smiled widely at him, her eyes twinkling. "Fuzzy head." she teased.

Jarred smirked. "I thought I was 'Warhead'."

"Nope! You're Fuzzy head now!" She stuck out her tongue at him.

Kiss her. A mesmerizing female voice suddenly whispered in his head.

Jarred smiled gently at her. Standing up he put a hand on her cheek, staring into her eyes softly. Stephanie's eyes widened as she flushed, staring up at Jarred.

He leaned towards her quietly, a faint blush on his cheeks.

Just as their lips were about to meet, someone suddenly cleared their throat at the doorway.

The two jumped back startled. Jarred had gone to the ground, while Stephanie on the other bench. They looked up to see who it was, both their faces bright red.

Pascal was leaning against the doorway of the compartment with his arms crossed, his face expressionless but his eyes cold. He too was wearing clean clothes. His hat was tilted downwards so it shadowed his face.

"Enjoying yourselves?" He asked in a flat voice.