²Olden Crown, heroes of olympus

017.

OLDEN CROWN
━━ chapter seventeen

━━ FOR A MINUTE, no one spoke. Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Elisa, Delaney, Piper, Leo, and Hedge watched, witnessing the reunion of two long-lost siblings separated by the gods. And then Thalia's arms dropped from Elisa's shoulders, and she rushed forward to hug Jason.

               "My gods! She told me you were dead!" The daughter of Zeus gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip—you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"

               Delaney snickered and Leo laughed. "Seriously?" they asked.

               Hedge nodded, as if he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers—excellent source of iron."

               "W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"

               At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."

               Delaney did better than that. She collapsed back onto the ground, her sword clattering to the floor. She groaned, holding her head. Piper looked woozy, and Hedge caught her before she could fall.

               Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with them? Ah—never mind. I see. Hypothermia." She frowned at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"

               Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think they look this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

               Thalia looked at Leo, and it was an accusatory glare, like Why did you let the goat be a doctor? As if that was Leo's fault.

               "You and the satyr," Thalia ordered, "take these two to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe's an excellent healer."

               "It's cold out there!" Hedge said. "I'll freeze my horns off."

               But Elisa knew when they weren't wanted. This was a sibling reunion. This was for Jason and Thalia to finally talk. "Come on, Leo, Hedge. Thalia and Jason need to talk."

               "Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody."

               Hedge helped Piper and Delaney limp toward the entrance. Elisa and Leo were about to follow when Jason called, "Actually, you guys, could you, um, stick around?"

               Elisa saw something in Jason's eyes she didn't expect: Jason was asking for support. He wanted somebody else there. He was scared. She figured it made sense. He was finally close to getting some answers, and Jason wasn't so sure anymore if that was a good thing. He was getting cold feet—literally, too.

               Leo grinned. "Sticking around is our specialty." He slung an arm over Elisa's shoulder, but she elbowed him in the rib, which made him groan and back off.

               Thalia didn't look too happy about it, but the four of them sat at the fire. For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Jason studied his sister like she was a scary device—one that might explode if handled incorrectly. Thalia seemed more at ease, as if she was used to stumbling across stranger things than long-lost relatives ( which she kind of was when Artemis and Apollo found them all the way back at Westover ). But still, she regarded Jason in a kind of amazed trance, maybe remembering a little two-year-old who tried to eat a stapler. Leo took a few pieces of copper wire out of his pockets and twisted them together. Elisa twirled Scion, her dagger, around, watching the fire dance, not as nervous anymore.