Rockland - Jason Grace

13. Goodbye, Happy

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Chapter 13
Goodbye, Happy

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Tessa never wanted to see a department store again. Even now, sitting on Festus' back and flying away from Chicago, Tessa felt unsafe and wary. She kept glancing back as if Medea had somehow managed to summon up the strength to get up and chase them in a dragon pulled chariot.

That's who the pretty woman had been. Medea. Psychotic wife of the first Jason.

Tessa had to admit she mostly remembered bits and pieces of the interaction. The sorceress' charmspeak was powerful. The young girl had to admit she was actually grateful to Piper for snapping them all out of it. But the damage was done.

Especially for Leo and Jason.

Tessa leaned against Jason's back and hugged him. She was tense until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set. Jason was too. He held her hand tightly.

"Good job, Festus." They heard Leo say as he patted the dragon's metal hide at the front. "You did awesome."

The dragon shuddered.

"I'll give you a tune-up next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."

Festus whirled his teeth, but even that sounded weak. He flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind, but he was carrying a heavy load. Two cages in his claws plus four people on his back.

"Leo." Piper patted his shoulder. "You feeling okay ?"

"Yeah...not bad for a brainwashed zombie." Tessa snorted in agreement. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell—"

"Don't worry about it," Piper said.

Tessa shifted uncomfortably. It was pretty worrisome how Medea had so easily controlled her and the boys. How quickly she had turned them against each other. Though, the negative feelings Medea had brought to light about Piper were never really hidden. Not like Leo's and Jason's.

She might feel bad, but it wasn't half as bad as what the boys must have been feeling.

No, what was eating at Tessa was how useless she had been during the quest. She hadn't been a burden who constantly needed saving or something but she hadn't actually done anything either. Leo had defeated the Cyclopes. Piper had defeated Medea. Jason had convinced Boreas to help them. Tessa had...healed a sprained ankle.

It was hard not to feel useless in the face of that.

"We're going to have to put down soon," Leo warned bringing Tessa out of her thoughts. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is—where are we going ?"

"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland ?"

Piper didn't respond for so long.

Tessa lifted her head, vaguely recalling something. "Piper's dad," she mused. "Something happened to him."

Piper said nothing. That prompted Jason to add, "He got lured into some kind of trap."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you would all die in the Bay Area. And besides...even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge ! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."