Wildfires, Heroes of Olympus ₂

038, what the hell, sure

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
FINLEY                    BRIGGS

Finn couldn't explain how she knew.

Not much freaked Finn out, but now... after what her dad had told her... the prospect of phantoms and tortured souls put her in a state of unease. Her brain could only remind her that she wasn't much different from them. Was she not a phantom, a tortured soul too?

Finn had a gut sense the eidolons were still present, simply because no one had told them to go away.

When she was done explaining, the others looked at her as they always looked at her: uncomfortably. Up on deck, Hedge sang something that sounded like "In the Navy" while Blackjack stomped his hooves, whinnying in protest.

Finally Hazel exhaled. "Finley is right."

"I am?" she asked.

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"I've met eidolons," Hazel said. "In the Underworld, when I was... you know."

Dead.

Finn tried sending her an encouraging smile as she reached across the table and held up her palm towards Hazel. "Up top!" she cheered.

Hazel's eyes narrowed on Finn tiredly. Nevertheless, she hesitantly returned Finn's high-five.

"So..." Frank rubbed his hand across his buzz-cut hair as if some ghosts might have invaded his scalp. "You think these things are lurking on the ship, or—"

"Possibly lurking inside some of us," Finn said. "We don't know."

Jason clenched his fist. "If that's true—"

"I know I helped get rid of them the first time," Finn ignored Jason easily, "but I don't think I'll be able to do this. I..." She groaned. "I really don't want to say this, but..."

Finn coughed a few words into her shoulder. Everyone blinked, confused.

"Um. What?" Annabeth asked.

"IThinkWeNeedPiper'sHelp," she quipped. No one could decipher anything, except for the fact Finn sounded agitated.

Leo crossed his arms. "Okay, again, but slower this time."

Finn threw up her hands in annoyance. Eyes down on the table, she reiterated, "I think we need Piper's... you know... help."

A beat.

"It was seriously that hard for you to say that?" Piper questioned.

"I'm not repeating it, so don't make me."

Piper rolled her eyes. "What do you even mean you need my help?"

"We do," Finn corrected. "Not me. But—I think the eidolons would only listen fully if someone was using charmspeak. I was able to get them to talk. But going away? They're gonna be a lot more stubborn about that."

"And how do you know?"

"Like my dad said—I'm sort-of-dead-but-not-really-but-also-yes-really," Finn said. "I don't know. I think all the people who 'died' when Thanatos was chained are going through the same thing right now. Maybe. Whatever. That's not the point!"