What They Said About Contact

Chapter 9: Shattered

Look sorry for not updating its just I have been testing a lot and got sick with a trough infection and had massive head aches - nearly making me vomit. Luckily I am better... So enjoy

Jason POV

I pulled back abruptly, berating myself—what was I thinking?!—as I took a few steps back, just in case; the daughter of Poseidon might want to murder me for kissing her.

There was an awkward pause.

"What was that?" Percy asked, fingers touching her lips.

"A kiss," I replied stupidly. And I instantly felt like decking myself on the head. I must've been spending too much time with Percy if I was getting this obtuse.

"I know that!" Percy said, cheeks flaming—easily visible under the moonlight. "I meant, why did you do it?"

"Is it wrong?"

"Without a reason—a valid one—yes!"

Silence reigned between them.

Until it was broken by none other than the daughter of Apollo and Percy's best friend, Annabeth. "Percy!" the daughter of Athena called, rushing to where her best friend stood. She didn't miss how awkward and tense  Percy and I were or how Percy's cheeks were aflame.

She glowered at the son of Jupiter. One almost enough to make me grovel. Almost.

Alexa noticed how odd the two children of the Big Three were, but not as much as Annabeth did. "Jason! Percy! We've found you!"

"Well, duh." Percy responded sarcastically.

But the sarcasm flew right past the daughter of Apollo's head. "It's time to gather around the campfire. Mr. D said that it you don't go soon, he'll make the curse permanent." Alexa delivered it in a sing-song voice, as if she didn't register how serious such things were.

"You... do know that's bad right?" I asked, trying to act surprise when Percy's hand slipped into mine. But I wasn't that surprised, really. I'd gotten used to her hand and it felt odd when she wasn't holding onto my hand—he was also pretty sure she felt the same way.

"Not at all!" Alexa replied cheerfully. Annabeth stared at her as if she was crazy, a look of what the Hades is wrong with you, kid? "I mean, you two like each other right? Even if it's permanent, I don't think either of you will mind."

Percy and I made choked sounds and started protesting but Annabeth cut us off. "Just admit it. Now let's go before Mr.D  murder us."

Annabeth POV

I huffed a laugh, placing a hand on Alexa's shoulder to steer her away to avoid running into a tree. I refrained from rolling her eyes when Percy and Jason started bickering about something inane. Again. It made me wonder how they were so into one another yet desired so much to throttle the other.

I supposed the saying of opposites attract were true after all.

That night, after the gathering at the bonfire ended, Jason chanced a kiss at Percy—which was most likely to rile her up. Which had made the whole camp go into an uproar full of cheers and whoops. Annabeth and Alexa laughed as the son of Jupiter and daughter of Poseidon were thrown into the lake.

They didn't surface for a long, long, long time.

Hera POV (3rd person)

Hera's eyes narrowed contemplatively as she watched the mirror—powered by her magic as a goddess—as it showed her champion, Jason and her brother's first and to date, only daughter. She didn't have anything against Jason but she felt slight resentment for the upstart daughter of Poseidon.

But her hate for the mint-eyed girl wasn't as much as it was for the daughter of Athena.

Thinking about that blonde girl just made Hera's blood boil. But the Juno side of her reminded her that it wasn't important, revenge on Athena's daughter will just be dealt later.

Hera smirked smugly when she thought of how easily she could wipe off the smiles on both heroes of Olympus' smiles—among their friends, their smiles are blindingly bright and contagious to other campers. With just a snap of her fingers, their memories would disappear and they would slumber until they are needed. She had more use for Jason now than Percy; the daughter of Poseidon is just too unpredictable, she'd inherited her father's nature which is not good and might jeopardized Hera's and Juno's well-laid plans.

"What are you doing?" A voice asked icily.

Hera whirled around, shocked and slightly panicked to face Athena's stern face. The goddess of wisdom's face was stormy; Hera could practically hear the gears in her brain whirling, piecing everything together once she caught sight of the magic mirror behind Hera.

"You couldn't possibly be—"

"Yes, I am." Hera cut in. "Don't bother stopping me. This must be done for the sake of our peace."

"What about their peace?" Athena spat, eyes flaring with anger as she gestured to the mirror showing Percy and Jason playing beach volleyball with other campers from other cabins, the other campers gathering around to watch and make bets. But there was one thing they were all doing: enjoying themselves and grinning.

But both goddesses knew that taking Percy away would shatter that image. Just like how Jason's disappearance had done to Camp Jupiter.

"You should take your leave"—Hera's form flickered as she smiled cruelly, she will enjoy this—"Minerva."

Every gods and goddesses and those of their heritage knew of the day Athena was made a mockery by the Romans; they'd torn down everything the goddess had stood for. Poseidon had even comforted her, choosing for once not to mock her or made fun of her for anything at Athena's look of anguish and horror.

Athena's hair flickered between black and blonde—the only physical changes in her Roman and Greek forms. She glowered at Hera. "I will remember this." The voice was still Athena's.

Hera's form finally stopped flickering once Juno fully emerged as the dominant person for now. "Why do you care so much?" the Queen of the Heavens demanded coldly.

"Don't think I will just stand by as you put my granddaughter through your foolish half-assed plans." Athena snarled, clutching her head as if she was having a migraine of the century. Seeing the great differences between Athena and Minerva, Juno must concede that yes, she was having just that kind of migraine.

"Granddaughter?" Juno's eyebrow rose. Flitting through her Greek counterpart's memories, she found it fitting that Athena didn't treat Percy like she did to other children of Poseidon. There was a certain fondness for Percy, as if what the girl did that would normally be considered stupid in Athena's eyes was cute.

"Mark my words," Athena staggered backwards. "Venus will make you pay for messing with her great-granddaughter."

Then the goddess of wisdom disappeared in a flurry of feathers.

Listlessly, Juno plucked the feather of an owl from the air and studied it for no apparent reason. What Athena had just told her only made things more perfect in Juno's mind; Percy was of Roman and Greek blood, the perfect bridge. Jason's and her coupling would only bring the Romans and Greeks closer.

Juno then turned back to the mirror where dusk had long past and night settled in, the moon presided by Artemis rising in the night sky. The camp which was earlier filled with a flurry of activities, was now quiet.

Her champion was asleep, curled up by the daughter of Poseidon's side, on arm wrapped protectively around her in the girl's cabin.

She felt no remorse even as half the mirror cracked and shattered.

The image left in it, through the cracked glass was only of rustled bed-sheets.

And all that was left was the sounds of shattering.