Soul of Olympus

Chapter Twenty Five

JASON HAD FOUND HIS SISTER AND lost her in less than an hour.As they climbed the cliffs of the floating island, he kept looking back, but Thalia was gone. Despite what she'd said about meeting him again, Jason wondered. She'd found a new family with the Hunters, and a new mother in Artemis. She seemed so confident and comfortable with her life, Jason wasn't sure if he'd ever be part of it. And she seemed so set on finding her friend Percy. Had

Has she ever searched for Jason that way?

Not fair, he told himself. She thought you were dead.

He could barely tolerate what she'd said about their mom. It was almost like Thalia had handed him a baby—a really loud, ugly baby—and said, Here, this is yours. Carry it. He didn't want to carry it. He didn't want to look at it or claim it. He didn't want to know that he had an unstable mother who'd gotten rid of him to appease a goddess. No wonder Thalia had run away.

Then he remembered the Zeus cabin at Camp Half-Blood—that tiny little alcove Thalia had used as a bunk, out of sight from the glowering statue of the sky god. Their dad wasn't much of a bargain, either. Jason understood why Thalia had renounced that part of her life too, but he was still resentful. He couldn't be so lucky. Thigh was grateful for avg Aria by his side in those moments. But he was still left holding the bag —literally.

The golden backpack of winds was strapped over his shoulders. The closer they got to Aeolus's palace, the heavier the bag got. The winds struggled, rumbling and bumping around.

The only one who seemed in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept pounding up the slippery staircase and trotting back down. 

"Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!"

"Coach! Not everyone here is an exercise obsessed half goat person who made the climb!" Ariadne yelled immediately after his comment.

 Her eyes were full of quick disgust and tiredness. As they climbed, Leo and Piper left Jason in his silence. Ariadne , though had yelled at Coach Hedge, had also stayed quiet in an attempt to give Jason time to process. 

"Maybe they could sense my bad mood" Jason kept thinking. 

Piper kept glancing back, worried, as if he were the one who'd almost died of hypothermia rather than she. Or maybe she was thinking about Thalia's idea. They'd told her what Thalia had said on the bridge—how they could save both her dad and Hera—but Jason didn't really understand how they were going to do that, and he wasn't sure if the possibility had made Piper more hopeful or just more anxious.

Ariadne kept staring to where the top of the stairs would eventually be. Her eyes darted across, as if she could sense something. Hermes, now erased from disgust and tiredness, was full of worry.

Leo kept swatting his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire. He wasn't steaming anymore, but the incident on the ice bridge had really freaked Jason out. Leo hadn't seemed to realize that he had smoke coming out his ears and flames dancing through his hair. If Leo started spontaneously combusting every time he got excited, they were going to have a tough time taking him anywhere. Jason imagined trying to get food at a restaurant. I'll have a cheeseburger and—Ahhh! My friend's on fire! Get me a bucket!

Mostly, though, Jason worried about what Leo had said. Jason didn't want to be a bridge, or an exchange, or anything else. He just wanted to know where he'd come from. And Thalia had looked so unnerved when Leo mentioned the burned-out house in his dreams—the place the wolf Lupa had told He was his starting point. How did Thalia know that place, and why did she assume Jason could find it? The answer seemed close. But the nearer Jason got to it, the less it cooperated, like the winds on his back.