Chapter 23

Jarred kept his head down, guilt washing over him. Why did I do that?! I have a girlfriend...T-that wouldn't have been right! So? Your girl is dying, what if you don't make it in time? Anger flooded through him. How dare he ever even think of something like that! At the back of his mind, he could hear the twinkling laugh of a woman.

"Pascal..." Stephanie pleaded. She flinched when he turned his cold eyes towards her.

"Save it." He said. "We're near the train's first stop. We can stay in the city for an hour before the train leaves. You two better not miss it." He said before taking his bag and walking out.

Stephanie and Jarred looked at one another for a moment before getting their things and following Pascal.

It took a while before they found Pascal in the hallway. The son of Hermes had his forehead pressed against a glass window with closed eyes, tears silently streaming down his face. He didn't seem to notice the two.

Jarred looked at Stephanie and tilted his head to Pascal, telling her to go to him.

They quickly turned back to Pascal when they heard him choke back a sob, an expression of pure undiluted pain on his face. He shook his head and wiped his tears, muttering to himself as he moved towards the exit on the other train car. He still had not seen the two.

They followed silently. "Pascal..." Stephanie said softly, walking alongside him.

Pascal flinched, his eyes burning with anger and pain as he stared ahead, ignoring the two.

Stephanie had a sorrowful look on her face. This is my fault... Jarred thought solemnly as he followed his friends. He didn't know if Pascal would still be his friend after this.

Once the train stopped, Pascal quickly got off but waited for the other two.

They followed him quietly. "Pascal, listen," Jarred looked up at him. "I didn't mean to...I just..." He sighed, how could he put the words?

Pascal took in a shaky breath before looking at them with cold eyes. "Do you both have all your bags?" he asked flatly.

"Yeah..." Jarred said, adjusting the strap on his shoulder.

"The train leaves in an hour. We'll meet back here." Pascal said. "Until then...do whatever you want...I don't care anymore." The last part he whispered as he turned around and got lost in the crowd.

Jarred sighed. "It's no use. He's going to stay mad at us for awhile." He shook his head and started walking in the opposite direction. "Come on."

Stephanie was silent but followed Jarred through the crowd. "What are we going to do?" she whispered.

"About Pascal?" He glanced back at her. She nodded as she stared at the ground.

Jarred let out a faint sigh. "I don't know, only time will tell where it'll end up."

Stephanie nodded and looked back where Pascal disappeared. "Be careful..." Jarred heard her whisper.

"Stephanie come on." Jarred called out to her, from the side of the other side of the road.

"Coming!" she shouted as she jogged to catch up. Both of them didn't notice the figure in the shadows, his striped hat shadowing his face as he watched the two.

Jarred led the way through the crowd. He was holding Stephanie's wrist so that they would not be separated.

"There's a café over there." Stephanie said, pointing to a small building with an assortment of tables with red umbrellas in front of it.

"The Richmond Café." Jarred told her as they walked over. "This place is a pretty popular hangout for kids during the school year."

The café was bustling with costumers, most of them kids. A waitress walked over to them as they entered. "May I help you?" she asked.

Jarred looked at Stephanie. "I'm good for now, Steph you want anything?"

"A cup of hot chocolate and a muffin please." She asked. The waitress nodded and led the two to a table in a far corner of the café.

As they sat down, Jarred gently touched the red gem. Thankfully it hadn't gotten colder or dimmer since they got on the train.

Stephanie put her elbow on the table and rest her head on her palm. "What happened?" she whispered, not looking at Jarred in the eye.

"Nothing it's still the same, thank the gods for that." He said quietly.

Stephanie shook her head. "I meant on the train."

"Oh, that."

"Yeah that."

Jarred kept silent for a few minutes. Thinking thing's over he didn't know how to answer her question.

Stephanie sighed and smiled weakly up at Jarred. "It's not all your fault you know." She said.

He looked up at her quietly. The look in his eyes reminded her of a small child who just got in trouble. "What do you mean?"

Stephanie blushed a bit. "In a way...I wanted it too." She said before looking down at the table.

He blushed, not taking his eyes off of her. Just then the waitress for before came over and placed Stephanie's order in front of her.

"Thank you." The daughter of Aphrodite said, looking up at the waitress. The waitress nodded and smiled at Stephanie before moving away.

"I wonder where Pascal is..." Jarred said, he had turned his gaze to the people walking past the cafe.

"I don't know." Stephanie muttered before picking apart her muffin. She ate some then looked up at Jarred. "Want?" She said, holding up a piece.

"Thanks." He took the piece and smiled at the taste. "I don't remember the last time I've had something from this place."

Stephanie chuckled and smiled at Jarred. "Me too."

"Hey Steph." Jarred looked into her eyes. "What was it like for you, before you came to camp?"

"Hmm." Stephanie said as her eyes glazed over as she tried to remember. "I'm a year rounder since I came here when I was around ten years old. I have a little brother and he's with dad. Dad's a model but I don't know what for right now. He sends me letters whenever he can."

"I've heard that a lot of the Aphrodite kids have movie stars or singers as dads." He said. "Not surprised, since you know..."

Stephanie shrugged and smiled at Jarred.

He smiled back at her. "How about we hit some of the shops before heading back to the train station. We have about half an hour."

Sure." Stephanie said. The waitress from before walked up to them and cleaned their table.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" She asked.

"Yeah, can we get the bill please?" Jarred said taking out his wallet.

The waitress smiled at him. "Oh no. This has already been paid for."

He looked up at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"A young man came in and told me that he'll pay for whatever you two ordered." She replied.

Jarred and Stephanie looked at one another confused. "Oh, well thanks." He smiled at the waitress slightly before standing up.

"I believe he just left." She said, pointing to the exit where a figure was just about to close the door. He looked like a teen with a mop of messy blond hair.

The two nodded and thanked the waitress for her service before going out the door. "Who do you think that was?" Jarred whispered to Stephanie.

"I don't...know." Stephanie replied.

"I don't see him anymore, curse this crowd..." Jarred growled.

Stephanie shrugged. "Well we can't do anything about it. How about we go hit some shops like you said?"

"I guess you're right." He looked back one last time before following his companion. "So where do you want to go first."

She shrugged again. "I'm not familiar with this place. You tell me." she said smiling up at Jarred.

"I'm not very familiar with this place either. All I really know is that we're on the outskirts of New York City right now." He smiled at her slightly. "They probably have a few street shops or stores downtown."

"Okay." She said before grabbing Jarred's hand and pulling him forward. "We better hurry up then."

He blushed faintly but didn't protest as he followed. "Okay, okay I'm coming." He chuckled.

You want her don't you? The same female voice from before whispered in his mind.

Jarred smiled to himself. It didn't occur to him that the voice was a woman's and not his own.

You're happy with her right? The voice whispered again.

Yes, she's nice and understands me. He thought.

Choose who your heart wants hero...

That snapped him out of it. Someone was messing with his head, and his emotions. "Aphrodite." Jarred growled quietly.

"Jarred! Jarred Come on run!" He heard Stephanie shriek.

He turned. "What do you mean run?!"

He was suddenly aware of his surroundings. People around him were shrieking. He turned around just in time to find a pair of sharp teeth inches from his face. He stumbled backwards to see an arrow that pierced through the monster's throat. A Harpy. As the harpy dissolved into golden dust, he saw Pascal a few meters in front of him holding a bow.

"What in the name of the gods are you doing?! RUN!" Pascal shouted notching another arrow as he ran towards the two.

Jarred pulled Efialtis from its sheath. "More like fight." He muttered, running after pascal as the staff became a spear. "What happened?!" He called to the other boy, dodging a set of Harpy talons.

"You just froze up! That's what happened!" The son of Hermes shouted as he turned around to fire another arrow. "What in Hades were you thinking?!"

"I don't know! I had a stupid voice in my head messing with my thoughts!" He shot an electric bolt at a harpy, causing her to melt into golden dust.

Pascal growled lowly as he snatched up Stephanie and put her on his back. Jarred was amazed to see that he could carry her easily. Must be the adrenaline. Jarred thought.

"Stephanie was trying to get you to snap out of it. She hurt herself trying to dodge that thing!" Pascal spat.

Jarred said nothing, him and Pascal would have their quarrel later.

Pascal grunted as he flipped a table towards what Jarred saw was the last harpy.

"You go on!" Jarred told Pascal. "I'll meet you guys at the train station."

Pascal immediately changed course while carrying a pale Stephanie. "You better make it back alive."

"You insult me!" Jarred smirked, giving Efialtis a twirl. He wanted to make this last one wish it could never come back to life.

The harpy shrieked at him and lunged towards his throat. "Die hero!"

"Fat chance!" He shot the spear straight through her. The harpy shrieked in pain as the electricity from the spear ran through her body before there was a bright explosion as the monster disintegrated. Shading his eyes, Jarred snatched up his weapon before any of the mortals noticed him and hurried to the train station.

When he got there, he found Pascal and Stephanie on one of the benches, breathing heavily.

Pascal looked like he was ready to pass out and had two deep claw marks on his shoulder. Stephanie on the other hand had a long deep gash on her right leg.

"Here Steph." Pascal muttered as he handed her a piece of Ambrosia before going to work on the gash on her leg.

Jarred sat down on the ground. Looking at Stephanie with sadden eyes, she had tried to protect him when all she did was hurt herself.

She caught him looking and tried to give him a reassuring smile.

He looked away from her. What if that had been Alice? She could've... A small sob shook him. Jarred hoped his friends wouldn't notice.

Jarred heard Stephanie winced as Pascal was finishing wrapping the bandages.

"Sorry." He muttered before standing up. "Don't put too much pressure on that leg for a while. It'll heal in a couple of hours." He finished before slumping on a chair and taking his shirt off. He winced as the fabric grazed the wound as he got another roll of bandages from his backpack.

Stephanie turned to Jarred as Pascal was cleaning his wounds. "It's okay Jarred. I'm not mad." she whispered.

He rubbed one of his eyes slightly. "I know..." He said quietly, and winced when his jacket touched the gash.

"Here let me help with that." Stephanie said before going up to clean Jarred's wounds.

Jarred opened his mouth to protest, but he was beginning to feel the pain coming from it.

"Don't be so stubborn." Stephanie muttered as she finished cleaning his wounds.

"Can't help it." He smirked. Stephanie smirked back as she shook her head.

Suddenly, something was being held out to his face. Looking up, he saw Pascal wordlessly holding out an ambrosia square and a strip of bandage.

"Here..." Pascal muttered, his eyes dead and his voice flat.

Jarred took it silently. "Thanks." He gave his friend a small smile and ate the ambrosia.

Pascal just nodded before going back to his backpack and throwing a new shirt back on. He winced as he sat back down and leaned back on the bench, closing his eyes.

Jarred sighed and laid back. The bandage felt odd on his face, and his anger for Stephanie's mom had returned. "Hey Steph, I think this is a terrible time to say this but-" He looked up at her. "-I seriously hate your mom right now."

Stephanie looked a bit offended. "Why?"

"She's messing with my mind and emotions." He said looking up at the sky.

Stephanie was about to retort something but Pascal cut her off. "Well she's the goddess of love isn't she?" Pascal muttered, half asleep. "But aside from that, I'm surprised you two haven't noticed an important detail yet."

Jarred sat up as the two stared at him. "What important detail?"

Pascal looked up from under his hat. "We missed our train."