heavy bones [jason grace]

28. epilogue

"So?"

We're in the field again. There are more flowers than before, and the sun seems to be shining brighter. The picnic blanket is pink this time around, and I'm dressed like her, white sundress and all. Tonight, she has a flower crown in her hair. She's braiding my hair to match with flowers of all different colors, weaving the dark strands so expertly she could be Annabeth's mom.

"So what?" I ask, scrunching my face up but resisting the urge to turn and look at her. She'd given me strict instructions not to move.

"What we talked about last time," she elaborates. "Do you still want to forget?"

Oh. Right. That. I'd somehow forgotten about that time I'd broken down crying, begging my mom to take my memories away.

"No," I tell her, and the answer comes so quickly that it leaves me a little breathless. "I don't want to forget. Never again."

"I'm happy to hear that," Mom says. She ties off the braid and drapes it over my shoulder. "There. All done. You can move now."

I shift so I'm sitting next to her, not in front of her. She pours us each a glass of raspberry lemonade from the ice-cold pitcher she'd summoned with a lazy wave of her hand. She watches me closely as I take a long sip, my mind very obviously elsewhere.

"How's the song coming along?" she asks. She moves her legs out from underneath her and lays down, using her elbows to keep her somewhat upright. She's dressed plainly, and she's not glowing or anything but she just looks like a goddess. "The one you started with Noelle. You finish it?"

"Just about," I say, easing into a similar position. "I've been pretty busy."

She grins and elbows me lightly. "With Jason, I presume?" My face grows warm and I have to look away. Her head falls back as she shrieks with delight, but her flower crown stays firmly in place. "Oh, I knew it! Tell me everything. Well, not everything. I am your mother."

"Mom," I groan. "Don't be weird."

"Fine, fine," she relents, though she's still beaming like the sun above us. "We can talk about something else if you'd like."

Hm. What do you talk about with your mom who is also an immortal goddess? I could talk to her about my destiny, about the progress we've made on the Argo II, about the prophecies. I could talk to her about Jason, how I'm worried when the war ends, we'll be separated again. I could ask her for more details about what my dad was like before he became the person I knew. 

I bite my lip and roll onto my side to properly face her. "I had this idea, but it's kind of stupid."

She rolls onto her side, raising her eyebrows. "I sincerely doubt that, but continue."

"I want to do something for Noelle," I tell her, stirring my lemonade with the straw just to do something with my hands. "And for Erin. And I thought that maybe...I don't know, I guess I just figured since they had music in common, I could... never mind, it's dumb."

"I don't like it when you talk like that," Mom says. She's not smiling anymore. She looks kind of stern actually, which is a weird look on her. She's never stern. "You're my daughter, Cordelia. Even without your powers, you shine so brightly. You're clever, you're kind, you make everyone around you smile and laugh...it's no wonder you have so many people who love you."

"But—"

"No buts," Mom says firmly. "Do you have any idea the light you bring to people's lives? Do you truly not see how wonderful you are? Do you think every single person who has chosen to call you a friend is lying or making a mistake?"