𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

sea monsters aren't that cool

ERITH JAY
JASON KEPT LOOKING back as they climbed the cliffs of the floating island, like he was willing Thalia to appear, waiting for her shining crown and her messy black hair and her electric blue eyes that matched his.

He seemed careful, uncertain. When he wasn't glancing back, he kept his head down. He avoided everyone's eyes. His shoulders were tight.

Erith was good at reading body language, and his body language screamed something of pain. Erith almost wanted to meet his eyes, but she was afraid how they would look.

She was used to seeing Jason carefully composed, in control, protective and defiant. Now he just looked... sad. Worn down. Defeated.

The golden backpack of winds was strapped over his shoulders. It seemed to move on its own, rumbling and bumping around. Erith figured those were the winds inside. She almost offered to help Jason carry it, but he was so quiet and so isolated, she decided it'd be best if she didn't.

The only one who seemed to be in a good mood was Gleeson, which was typical, Erith figured. She still couldn't decide if she wanted to smack the coach upside the head with his own club, or laugh at his jokes, which was similar to how she felt about Leo, but she really did not want to go down that path, because she had kissed Leo, and the thought of kissing the satyr made her shudder. Anyway, to keep the peace, she decided to just continue making comments under her breath about him.

At the moment, he was bounding up and down the slippery staircase and calling to them, "Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!"

Eventually, Erith couldn't help herself. "I hope we fall off," she mumbled under her breath.

Thankfully, the wind howled too loud for anyone to hear her, except for Jason, who didn't even bother to smile.

Aside from that, their climb was mostly quiet. Leo and Piper seemed to understand just as well as her to let Jason be with his thoughts, at least for a bit. That was the least they could do for him right now. He needed to process things. They'd be there for him when he was ready.

Besides, they might not have another chance for him to process things, so it was now or never, Erith figured.

They had changed positions on the stairs at some point, so Hedge was in front, then Piper, then Erith, then Jason. Piper kept glancing back at Jason, her expression one of worry. Leo and Jason had told them what Thalia had said on the bridge―and the part about how they could save both her dad and Hera seemed like it had rattled Piper badly. But she wasn't sure if it was a good rattled, or a bad rattled. Probably both.

Leo, who was between Piper and Erith, kept swatting at his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire, and Erith had to laugh in the bitter cold air. He had turned around and grinned at her in that impish, troublemaker way that made her heart warm up, but then he saw Jason slightly behind her and his expression went back to set into a deep frown.

Erith understood what Leo had been saying about Jason being a bridge. Jason hadn't said anything about it, so Erith wasn't quite sure what he was thinking about it, but she got it now.

Jason was one side of the bridge. And Percy Jackson was the other. She was almost sure of that.

But she had to tell Annabeth as soon as she could. Which meant they needed to survive this quest.