𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 - j. grace, ocxoc ¹ ✓

xiii. walking in a winter hell !

XII.      JASON GRACE   !
⋆ ★
walking in a winter hell

          Jason didn't want to leave Leo, but he was starting to think that hanging out with Cal the hockey jock might be the least dangerous option in this place.

As they climbed the icy staircase, Zethes stayed behind them, his blade drawn. The guy might've looked like a disco-era reject, but there was nothing funny about his sword. Jason figured one hit from that thing would probably turn him into a Popsicle.

Then there was the ice princess. Every once in a while she'd turn and give Jason a smile, but there was no warmth in her expression. She regarded Jason like he was an especially interesting science specimen—one she couldn't wait to dissect.

If these were Boreas's kids, Jason wasn't sure he wanted to meet Daddy. Annabeth had told him Boreas was the friendliest of the wind gods. Apparently that meant he didn't kill heroes quite as fast as the others did.

Jason worried that he'd led his friends into a trap. If things went bad, he wasn't sure he could get them out alive. He watched Delilah and Kaen take each other's hands without thinking. He focused on Delilah's hands, seeing them shake at a concerning rate Jason knew couldn't be normal. Even if it did make sense why it was shaking considering it was frigid in the castle, he noticed her hands shaking way too many times to think it was only because it was cold. But what could he say? They had just met two days ago, he couldn't exactly ask her about it now. It seemed like an "after you almost die from a quest" conversation.

"It's just a talk, right?" Delilah whispered to them. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

"We all agree to sacrifice Lil Jason if it comes to it, right?" asked Kaen. All of the girls agreed, Jason widening his eyes at all of them. The only person who didn't seem to be joking was Kaen. Did he deserve it? Considering he might have doomed them all by asking them to join him on the quest, he probably did.

At the top of the stairs, the ice princess looked back and noticed Delilah and Kaen holding hands. Her smile faded. Suddenly they both let go, and Jason saw their fingers were smoking with frost.

"Warmth is not a good idea here," the princess advised, "especially when I am your best chance of staying alive. Please, this way."

Kaori whispered something in Japanese which sent a glare her way by Khione. It was clear she didn't understand, but she knew it was directed to her. She smiled sweetly as a flower grew next to Khione's ear. The snow princess threw it on the ground and sent the girl a glare. Zethes poked Jason in the back with his icicle sword, and they followed the princess down a massive hallway decked in frosty tapestries.

Freezing winds blew back and forth, and Jason's thoughts moved almost as fast. He'd had a lot of time to think while they rode the dragon north, but he felt as confused as ever.

Thalia's picture was still in his pocket, though he didn't need to look at it anymore. Her image had burned itself into his mind. It was bad enough not remembering his past, but to know he had a sister out there somewhere who might have answers and to have no way of finding her—that just drove him up the wall.

In the picture, Thalia looked nothing like him. They both had blue eyes, but that was it. Her hair was black. Her complexion was more Mediterranean. Her facial features were sharper—like a hawk's. Still, Thalia looked so familiar. Hera had left him just enough memory that he could be certain Thalia was his sister. But Annabeth had acted completely surprised when he'd told her, like she'd never heard of Thalia's having a brother. Did Thalia even know about him? How had they been separated?