SWEET SORROWS│p. jackson

[ 15. ]

II xv. the redemption... II

HAD MELLIE not gotten to them first, Andromeda was sad to say they would be very much dead. The wind aura spread her robes over them like a shield as the winds hit—blasting the floor around them to pieces. The five of them fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above them,

"Mellie, you are so fired!"

"Quick!" Mellie yelled. "Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?"

"A little!"

"Then help me, or you're all dead!"

Well, that was some motivation. Mellie grabbed Jason's hand. The storm spirits were following them down, closing rapidly, bringing with them a cloud of deadly shrapnel.

"Group hug!" Jason shouted.

Hedge, Leo, Andromeda, Alabaster, and Piper tried to huddle together, hanging on to Jason and Mellie as they fell. Wind rushed past Andromeda's face, and she had to force her eyes to stay open.

"This is NOT GOOD!" Leo yelled.

"Bring it on, gas bags!" Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. "I'll pulverize you!"

"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed.

"Concentrate?" Jason prompted.

"Right!"

Mellie and Jason channeled the wind so their fall became more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. Through the midst of the chaos, Alabaster had managed to snag his sister's attention.

"Andromeda! I need to tell you something!" Alabaster yelled over the howling winds. She looked over at him, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "It's super important!"

Judging from his word choice of 'it's super important' she had to assume it was not. Especially considering their predicament. "What?" She yelled back, eyes anxiously darting up to the wind spirits.

"I need you to tell you what really happened that day! The day when I left!"

Andromeda looked back at him, face filled with horror. "Are you joking?" If her vision weren't blurred by the force and speed of them tumbling, she would have seen his very-much-serious face. "This is such a bad time, Alabaster!"

"No, Andromeda, I need to tell you now!"

"Alabaster—"

"Andromeda, please!" He begged.

"Alright, what!" She screamed, annoyance waving through her. She was preparing herself for another one of his bullshit excuses, and the next thing that came out of his mouth was by far one of the craziest she's heard.

"It was Hecate!"

His answer to their whole argument was just a couple words—much less one with no context. "What?"

"She...she convinced me to join Kronos' side during the war! She told me you'd all be protected if I joined!"

"No!" She immediately defended her mother. That made no sense whatsoever. Why would her mother possibly be on Kronos's side? She didn't have time for this. Between the howls of the storm spirits, the wind whistling past her ears, and the sentence he had just thrown at her, it was too much. "Alabaster...can we maybe talk about this after we hopefully survive—!"