heavy bones [jason grace]

24. jason dies in this one

I go where I'm needed.

For the most part, I'm alternating between the Earthborn and the wolves, but every now and then, I fire off a blast of light at Khione to give Leo a little help. Not that he really needs it. He's holding his own against the goddess with relative ease, his entire body encased in flames. Not only is his fire melting any attacks Khione tries to throw at him, but it's also raising the temperature, keeping us alive. It's so incredibly badass and impressive and I make a mental note to write a song in his honor when we get home.

I'll write songs about Piper and Jason too. Piper, who's so positively radiant on the battlefield that even the Earthborn she's fighting stop to watch. Jason's commandeered one of the storm spirits, swinging his plank of wood while the stallion he rides vaporizes its brethren. And me? I'm just doing what I can to help. I mean, I'm not battling a goddess (and winning) or looking so awe-inspiring that the enemy stops attacking or galloping around on a horse made of storm clouds and lightning, but I'm definitely contributing.

I think.

One second, I'm slicing through one of the last Earthborn, and the next, all of our enemies are dead or incapacitated save for Khione. Though, judging by the look on her face, she doesn't seem to plan on sticking around much longer.

"You're too late." She's scowling fiercely, but I can see the panic in her eyes. This didn't go how she wanted it to, and now she's scrambling to regain some semblance of control. "He's awake! And don't think you've won anything here, demigods. Hera's plan will never work. You'll be at each other's throats before you can ever stop us."

I roll my eyes, chest heaving as I sheathe my sword. "Does she ever stop talking?"

"She will," Leo says. He sets the silver-tipped hammers he's been wielding on fire, which looks super fucking epic by the way, and just chucks them at her. Unfortunately, the goddess of snow is a coward, and she turns into a her-shaped snowwoman. Lame. Still, pretty cool to see the flaming hammers melt snow-Khione into mush.

"Nice horse," Piper says, smiling up at Jason while she tries to catch her breath. The horse promptly shows off for her, rearing on his hind legs while electricity arcs across his hooves. 

I rake my fingers through my hair, trying to comb out the mud. When I get home, I'm taking a six-hour shower, and then a two-week nap and anyone who dares to judge me for it will get a light blast to the face. I make eye contact with Jason. He looks like he wants to say something, but before he can so much as open his mouth, there's this cracking noise behind us. We whip around to see the ice melt off of Hera's cage.

"Oh, don't mind me!" Hera yells. "Just the queen of the heavens, dying over here!"

Jason dismounts and tells his horse to stay put. Then the four of us drop down into the pool and rush over to Hera's cage. Something's clearly wrong, but it takes my brain a second to figure it out.

"Uh, Tía Callida," Leo says, frowning, "are you getting shorter?"

"No, you dolt! The earth is claiming me. Hurry!"

Fuck, she's right. The prison is sinking, yeah, but it's so much worse than that. The ground is rising, surging up around her, and trying to swallow her whole. It's only up to her shins at the moment, but that's still far too high for my liking.

"The giant wakes!" Hera warns us. "You only have seconds!"

"On it," Leo assures her. He turns to Piper. "Piper, I need your help. Talk to the cage."

Piper's eyes widen. "What?"

"Talk to it. Use everything you've got. Convince Gaea to sleep. Lull her into a daze. Just slow her down, try to get the tendrils to loosen while I—"