𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈 ; good riddance!

title from 'the smallest man who ever lived' by taylor swift

౨ৎ･ﾟ:*

PIPER KEPT CALLING JASON'S NAME AS she held him. he'd been unconscious for two minutes now. his body was steaming, his eyes rolled back in his head. i couldn't tell if he was even breathing.

"it's no use, child." hera stood over us in her simple black robes and shawl.

every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. no signs of battle, either. the monsters had been vaporized. the ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by a horde of wolves, storm spirits, and six-armed ogres.

even the hunters had been revived. most waited at a respectful distance in the meadow, but thalia knelt by piper's side, her hand on jason's forehead.

thalia glared up at the goddess. "this is your fault. do something!"

"do not address me that way, girl. i am the queen—"

"fix him!"

hera's eyes flickered with power. "i did warn him. i would never intentionally hurt the boy. he was to be my champion. i told them to close their eyes before i revealed my true form."

"um..." leo frowned. "true form is bad, right? so why did you do it?"

"i unleashed my power to help you, fool!" hera cried. "i became pure energy so i could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable hunters from the ice."

"but mortals can't look upon you in that form!" thalia shouted. "you've killed him!"

i shook my head in dismay. "that's what our prophecy meant. death unleash, through hera's rage."

"come on, lady," leo said. "you're a goddess. do some
voodoo magic on him! bring him back."

"he's breathing!" piper announced.

"impossible," hera said. "i wish it were true, child, but no mortal has ever—"

"jason," piper called. "listen to me. you can do this. come back. you're going to be fine."

nothing happened.

"healing is not a power of aphrodite," hera said regretfully. "even i cannot fix this, girl. his mortal spirit—"

"jason," piper said again. "wake up."

he gasped, and his eyes flew open. for a moment they were full of light—glowing pure gold. then the light faded and his eyes were normal again.

"what—what happened?"

"impossible!" hera said.

piper wrapped him in a hug until he groaned, "crushing me."

"sorry," she said. she laughed while wiping a tear from her eye.

thalia gripped her brother's hand. "how do you feel?"

"hot," he muttered. "mouth is dry. and i saw something... really terrible."

"that was hera," thalia grumbled. "her majesty, the loose cannon."

"that's it, thalia grace," said the goddess. "i will turn you into an aardvark, so help me—"

"stop it, you two," piper said. amazingly, they both shut up.

piper helped jason to his feet and gave him the last nectar from their supplies.

"now..." piper faced thalia and hera. "hera—your majesty—we couldn't have rescued you without the hunters. and thalia, you never would've seen jason again—i wouldn't have met him—if it weren't for hera. you two make nice, because we've got bigger problems."