Daughter of Neptune, Book one

XLIII

Tori's pov

I was in shock.

"Jason!" Piper kept calling his name as she held him, but I could tell she'd almost lost hope. His body was steaming, his eyes rolled back in his head. I couldn't tell if he was even breathing. But this is my best friend, my brother. Jason Grace has saved my life multiple times, he's never given up on me no matter how bad my situation got. He's stayed by my side. In the end, it was always him and I. I was not giving up on him.

"It's no use, child." Hera stood over us in her simple black robes and shawl.

I came back to my senses. "Yeah, I don't care. Fix him." I said.

I didn't see the goddess go nuclear. Thankfully I'd closed my eyes, but I could see the aftereffects. Every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No sign of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporized. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that we'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

Even the Hunters had been revived. Most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but Thalia knelt by Piper's side, her hand on Jason's forehead.

Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something!"

"Do not address me that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"Fix him!" I yelled at Hera. "Jason Grace is my best friend, my brother. Through everything in my life, his friendship never faltered. He never gave up on me, so I'm not giving up on him." A few tears were involuntarily coming down my face. "Fix him, Hera. Or by the gods, Jupiter will be that last thing you should worry about!" 

I felt my hands heat up, like fire was trying to push out onto my hands. But I took a breath and the heat subsided—but not my melancholiness.

Hera's eyes flickered with power. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told you all to close your eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um..." Leo frowned. "True for is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed him!"

I felt nauseous again. I fell down to my knees. Tears started to make their way down my face. I heard Leo talking about a line in the prophecy. Death unleash, through Hera's rage but it sounded so distant like a whisper. The only stable person in my life, the only one I was certain I could trust. My friend. My best friend. My brother. Jason "golden boy" Grace, was dea–no, he couldn't be. My golden boy could not die. Not on me. I never gave up on him, he can't give up on me. But he did. I lowered my head and let the tears flow.

Then Piper announced, "He's breathing!"

I looked up and wiped off my glasses (that somehow stayed on my face this entire time) and my face.

"Impossible," Hera said. "I wish it were true child, but no mortal has ever—"

"Jason," Piper called. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."