The Unclaimed

Chapter 59: I get reunited with my brother

  BBefore I knew it, camp was in sight. In what seemed like a matter of minutes, we began our downward descent. Soon we landed in the middle of the pavilion. It was lunch time and needless to say, quite a few campers suffered from near heart attacks. I only had eyes for one camper though; Michael. The moment we made eye contact, he jumped from his seat and sprinted right at me. Dismounting from my Pegasus, I ran towards him. When we finally got to each other, he threw his arms around me and I wrapped him in a hug. Tears were streaming down both of our faces but I was pretty sure that neither of us cared.
   "I've missed you so much," I told him honestly. Pulling back so slightly so I could look him in the eyes, I began to question him. "Did your other siblings take care of you while I was gone? Did everyone treat you well? Did anyone mess with you? Did James mess with you? Because if he did I will gladly go kick his ass right now." Some campers chuckled at my comments but I didn't bother looking at them. All I cared about was my brother.
   "Jessica I'm fine," at these words I wrapped him back up in a big hug.  But then he pulled away from me.
   "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked him.
   "Jessica, I love you but stop worrying about me for two seconds please." I raised my eyebrows but stayed quiet. "I've been the one who's we  safe at camp. You're the one who's been on a dangerous quest. Would you let me worry about you and make sure you're ok for a few minutes please." I smiled at him.
   "You'll have to forgive me Michael, sometimes I forget that you're not an innocent little kid anymore." I paused before I continued. "My quest was pretty crazy, I'll tell you the full story later, but I promise you that I'm ok." He nodded.
   "I do have one question for you that's not about the quest." Michael said quietly. I looked at him curiously. "Why'd you lie to me about your happiness here? I was perfectly happy with running away with you so that you could be happy." His voice started to raise. Shocked gasps were heard. "Instead you had to strike deals with all of them, the same ones who made you miserable, in order to hide the truth from me. Why did you do that to me?" I tried to pull him into a hug but he moved away from me. "Answer my question. You always said that it was me and you against the world and then you lie to me and trust the people who made you miserable." I opened my mouth to respond but a different voice cut me off.
   "Don't be mad at her Michael," I recognized the speaker as one of Michaels older sisters. "She only did what she thought needed to be done in order to keep you safe." One of his brothers stood up.
   "If you're going to be mad at anyone than you should be mad at all of us." It was his brother Adam. "She told us why you wanted to leave and why she wanted to make a deal with us. We could have stopped treating her badly but instead we agreed to her deal." Adam shot a small smile at me. "We're the ones who messed up. She's the one who did the selfless act of putting your happiness in front of hers." Murmurs of agreement rang throughout the pavilion. Using my hand to direct Michaels face so he was looking at me, I stared him right in the eyes and said.
   "But don't be angry at them either," I told him. "None of us are perfect. They may not have been to kind to me but I certainly could have handled it better. No one is innocent in what used to take place. But from the looks of it, I think most people are willing to try and fix what goes on here." Michael smiled and threw himself into my arms. Looking above his head, I mouthed thank you to his siblings. Chiron cleared his throat, I stared coldly at him.
   "Jessica and Michael, please come with me." He told us. "We have many things to discuss with Dionysus and Artemis." With Michael holding my hand, we followed behind Chiron as we walked to the Big House.