Sea Green Eyes

Chapter 4

Cressida hated everything. She didn't like it. She didn't want to do it.

But a dream message from her father was the only reason why she did.

Jason had apparently told his sister about a Wolf House and that's where they were heading when they made camp and Thalia ordered her to finally try and get some sleep, she was standing in the strawberry fields back in camp.

After saying goodbye to Castor, the strawberry fields brought her a lot of peace. Especially when the strawberries were ripe and she could snack on them as she walked. And sometimes it felt like if she turned around, Castor would be standing right behind her.

But this time when she turned, it wasn't Castor.

"He would certainly know what to do better than I, but he's in a better place," said Dionysus as he appeared, dressed in black slacks and shiny shoes but with his usual leopard print shirt as if he couldn't decide whether or not to dress casually or formally.

"Papa," she cried as she barrelled into his arms. "Papa, where have you been?! For months I-"

"I don't have long, Jewel," he said as he pulled away. "Zeus has forbidden all contact, I risk his wrath just being here."

"Papa, where -"

"Jewel, listen to me," he said, his hands on her shoulders as she gripped his forearms. "I cannot tell you where he is, for even I don't know. If a god has taken him, it wasn't me."

"It was Hera. It has to be. She took him last time and now -"

"Be that as it may, what I can promise you is that Jason Grace has the answers you seek. And he needs your help to save Hera."

"Please don't ask that of me, Papa. I can't -"

"Yes you can, Jewel. You are better than her. You can do this. For the threat you face this time is worse than Kronos ever was. And you can do this. You have to heed Pan's words. You must keep moving forward, Jewel."

"But Papa-"

"No," he countered as he wiped the tears from her face. "Jewel think of it this way, if Hera dies, you won't get answers out of her and you won't get to see her suffer living a lie that her family is perfect. And should that not be enough, think of all the monsters you'll get to kill along the way, for I can say with certainty that there will be plenty that stand between you and this being over."

"I-I don't know," she hyperventilated, currently overloaded with information. "I-"

"I am so sorry, my Jewel. For everything. For everything you have been through and everything you have to go through. But I promise you will be at peace one day."

Cressida sighed, feeling confused but safe in her father's arms. "Why can't that day be now?"

"Life has always been cruel to you my Jewel, but only if you perceive it that way. Your brother got you to believe that people are not as bad as you think, and that the world is not as cruel as it seems. It brought you to me, to your brothers, to your friends and that Jackson boy of yours."

"But I need him back. I've never done this without him."

"That does not sound like my daughter who faced Kronos' army with a theatrical bow because she could. Who stabbed out the eye of a Lydian drakon and fought it even though she knew she couldn't defeat it. Who held up the weight of the sky indefinitely to 'one-up' her friend. Believe, Jewel. Believe that you can do it and you shall."

She couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips. Believe - Positive thinking. A positive thinking Percy Jackson Plan. That's what she needed.

The once sunny sky above them suddenly became grey as storm clouds blocked out the sun.

"My warning system," her father explained. "Zeus is sensing an illegal dream."

"When will I see you again?"

"I don't know Jewel, but I wish you all the luck in the world," he said before kissing her forehead. "You will need it."

And he shimmered out of existence as Cressida's dream faded.

She woke back in the tent she shared with Thalia as she gasped awake. And she simply just lay there as she thought over her father's words.

"Di Immortales, damn you, Papa," she sighed as she got up and she began packing.

"Everything ok?" Thalia asked as she walked into their tent to wake her for her watch shift.

"I have to go."

Thalia didn't even need any more of an explanation. "Finally get it through your head that you can't fight this?"

"More like my father talked some sense into me," she said as she put her fingers to her lips and let out a taxi-cab whistle.

"Mr D spoke to you?! What did he say?"

"That Jason does know where Percy is, and if he dies before we save Hera and she gives him back his memories, I'll never find him," she said as she slung a bag over her shoulder and headed for the entrance.

"How do you even know where Jason is?" Thalia asked as she watched Cressida greet the black pegasus she'd summoned.

"Papa said that the threat we face is worse than Kronos. And I figure that to help Blackjack's nose sniff him out, we start at the place where Kronos' power was strongest."

"San Francisco," Thalia realised. "Cress, that's dangerous."

"No more dangerous than the rest of this. Head to the Wolf House. I'll take care of your brother. I owe you for taking care of mine last summer."

"Grapes," she said as Cressida climbed onto Blackjack. "You owe me nothing. Just be safe, please. And Iris message me or Books if you need anything or if you find anything."

"I promise," she said with a nod as she rubbed Blackjack's flank. "You ready?" she asked and he made a noise as if he was saying that he was born ready.

"Good luck," Thalia said.

"You too."

And Cressida took off into the sky.