Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xxiv. into the depths of hell

IT WAS A WELL-KNOWN FACT THAT, of the two of them, Ophelia was the short-tempered one. Jason always had a level-head, always thought before he acted, weighed all the options before he chose what to do (when it wasn't life-or-death, at least).

But that wasn't to say Jason never got mad.

"Let me get this straight," he said, his knuckles white against the railing. They were standing on the deck with the rest of the crew—minus Annabeth, who they were currently sailing to meet up with—but standing a little ways away from them. "You knew that you were going to face Maren alone. You snuck off without giving any of any kind of warning. You didn't even think to say goodbye? That never crossed your mind?"

"You would've tried to stop me," Ophelia said, knowing it was true. If the roles were reversed, she knew she wouldn't have let him walk off to his potential-death without putting up a fight.

"Of course I would've tried to stop you!" he snapped, his voice still hushed so the rest of the crew couldn't hear their argument. "You could have died, Ophelia, and I wouldn't have even known until now! You would have just been gone! I wouldn't have survived that!"

Ophelia frowned. "Yes, you would have, Jason."

"No, I wouldn't have," he said. His voice was softer now, the undercurrent of anger fading into something more like fear. "Maybe physically, but... If you'd died, Ophelia, I wouldn't have known what to do with myself. I—I would have been lost. I can't—"

"Hey," she murmured. She reached for his hand, placing it over her chest, where her heart was still beating, as steady as ever. "Jason, I'm—"

"Please do not say you're fine," he practically begged.

"I'm not," she admitted. "I probably won't be for a long time. But what I was going to say is that I'm here. I survived. Maren's dead, and she's never coming back, and I'm here."

Jason let out a soft breath, some of the tension leaving his body, though Ophelia knew it would be a long time before he could relax completely. He wrapped his arms around her, and she closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat against her ear, relishing in the sound.

Then Coach Hedge had to ruin the moment.

"That's enough of that, lovebirds!" he called. "Get over here!"

Ophelia rolled her eyes, walking back to the rest of the crew members. She sat next to Piper as Frank finished bandaging her injured shoulder. Hazel sat at the stern, feeding Nico di Angelo ambrosia. The son of Hades could barely lift his head.

Frank and Leo recounted what had happened in the room with the Archimedes spheres, and the visions Gaea had shown them in the bronze mirror. They quickly decided their best lead for finding Annabeth was to follow the cryptic advice Bacchus had provided: the Emmanuel Building.

Ophelia spoke the name into her compass, showing it to Leo as the needle slowed to a stop, pointing the way. Leo steered the ship toward their destination.

"Guys," Hazel spoke up. "You should hear this."

She helped Nico to his feet.

"Thank you," Nico rasped. His eyes darted nervously around the group, as if he couldn't decide who was a friend and who was a foe. "I'd given up hope."

"You knew about the two camps all along," Percy said, though he didn't sound too angry. "You could have told me who I was the first day I arrived at Camp Jupiter, but you didn't."

Nico slumped against the helm. "Percy, I'm sorry. I discovered Camp Jupiter last year. My dad led me there, though I wasn't sure why. He told me the gods had kept the camps separate for centuries and that I couldn't tell anyone. The time wasn't right. But he said it would be important for me to know..." He doubled over in a fit of coughing.