𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐔𝐌 • Heroes of Olympus

XI

AS THE newly repaired Festus flew into the Detroit sky, Andy could hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance behind them. She let out a sigh of relief. It felt good not to be eaten.

Andy's ankle had started to throb again. It would heal before they were Chicago, but that didn't make the pain any better. It lasted for a few minutes, then disappeared completely. Her ankle had fixed itself.

They had been flying for a few hours, making some small talk in between, when Andy first noticed something wrong with Jason. His body started heating up, as if he were running a fever. Andy fed him a little ambrosia, but it did nothing.

"Something wrong?" Leo asked from up front.

"It's Jason," Andy replied, starting to get worried. "He's running a fever, or something."

Leo turned and put his hand to Jason's forehead. He pulled it back immediately, hissing.

"Dude's burning up," he remarked. "Should we land?"

"Not yet. He can hold on for a while longer."

But 'a while' didn't last for long. In a few minutes, Jason was shaking all over. He was mumbling things in his sleep. Andy caught a few words; 'Juno', 'gamble', 'don't understand'. Jason was having some sort of vision, and it was taking a good toll on him.

"Leo," Andy called. 

"Are we landing?" Leo asked before Andy could say it.

"Yeah," she said. "We need to get Jason on solid ground." She grimaced slightly. "Even though solid ground is our biggest enemy."

Festus landed in the suburbs of some city. Leo and Andy brought Jason down, and set him against a wall. Andy gave him some nectar and water, but to no avail. Jason's vision went on, and so did his sickness.

"Should we give him some more ambrosia?" Leo asked, worried.

Andy shook her head. "No. Anymore would kill him."

Suddenly, Jason gasped out loud. He shot forward as if to get up, eyes shooting open. Then everything stopped. The son of Zeus went completely limp.

"No, no, no." Andy crouched beside him, shaking him by the shoulder. "Jason. Jason!"

Jason's pulse was horribly low, and his heartbeat was barely there. He was turning paler by the minute.

"What's happening to him?" Leo cried.

"I don't know," Andy sobbed. "If only Will was here. Or anybody else. Why do I have to suck so much at healing?"

"There's no use in blaming yourself, Valkyrie. We need a way to help Jason."

"Right… right."

Leo had a point. What was she doing, moping around? 

She trickled a little nectar into Jason's mouth. A little color returned to his face, but nothing else happened. When she tried to give him some more, his lips sizzled. 

"That's the limit," she said. "Nectar can't help him anymore."

She wanted to curl into a ball and die. Why did she have to be such a failure? She couldn't even save her friend.

Andy stopped. Since when did she start referring to Jason as 'friend'? She couldn't do that.

A pain shot through her head. That feeling she had in her dreams, like someone was influencing her thoughts, came back to her. 

Andy was brought back to her senses with Leo shaking her. 

"Hey! Valkyrie! You okay?"

"Yeah," Andy breathed. "Yeah, I'm fine." She glanced at Jason's limp form. "We need to give him some rest, see if he improves."