What They Said About Contact

Chapter 20: Working things out

To his horror, he felt his brain go into autopilot mode - which was usually the time he has those foot in the mouth moments - and he felt his lips pressed into a thin line. "What's there to talk about?" he asked, rather coldly and for a moment, Percy looked hurt.

Mood swings, his mind told him, once, she would've just punched him but now she seemed ready to cry.

Did he feel bad? A little; he avoided her hurtful green eyes, and concentrated on his flight, if he lose concentration for even a moment, he'd be eating dirt and being on the ground now wasn't something he wanted to do with Queen Dirt Face waiting to devour him.

The wind whistled in his ears, blowing away Percy's next words. He hesitated, finally glancing back her, "What did you say?"

Her face hardened. "Forget it," she said in a somewhat icy tone then turned her gaze downwards, watching as the landscape bypassed them. Jason instantly felt frustration well up in him, here he was ready to hear her out and she chose not to talk. Her mood-swings will really be hard to deal with. He wondered if he was up for such a task.

When they reached the Argo II, everyone instantly rushed towards them, concern evident in their eyes and some looks were thrown Jason's way. Wow, did Jason felt like shit; even his friends - the people aboard Argo II were those he could call family - doubt his ability to make things right. But then again he had messed up horribly last time.

"Er..." Jason glanced down where Alexa was fussing over Piper's unconscious form. "So... who knocked her out?" The daughter of Apollo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion when she spotted the suspicious hoof-mark on the girl's head. "Well?" she prompted the children of the Big Three.

"Percy and Piper fought," Jason said plainly which elicited a glare from the green-eyed demigoddess and gasps of horror and disbelief rippling from the crowd of demigods. "but not because they wanted too. These things called eidolons possessed them and we barely escaped. It seems like Gaia wants two of us -one boy and one girl - to live and be her sacrifices."

"Oh," Alexa said, shooting Jason a suspicious look. The son of Jupiter thought the young girl respected him, apparently, not so much now. Children trust easily, or so they say, and to earn a child's great mistrust; Ouch.

"Ooh..." Alexa glanced down, removing her hands from Piper's head. "It hurts," the daughter of Aphrodite moaned, clutching her head and squeezing her eyes shut in a feeble attempt to stave the pain away. "What happened back there? I feel like I've been kicked by a horse."

Leo blinked then smirked. "Accurate description."

Annabeth elbowed him, hard, shooting him a mild-glare that said shut up. "We need to hold a meeting. This is serious."

Piper stumbled to her feet with Alexa's help though she still leaned heavily on the younger girl. She squinted at Percy, holding out a hand. "Sorry, I hurt you."

Percy opened one eye to glance at the brunette, her green eyes conflicted, she took the other girl's hand, saying, "Nah. I could've killed you. And," Eyes flashing with undecipherable emotion. "you've already hurt me in more ways than one." Piper flinched and slowly retracted her hand but before any more arguments and accusations could break out, Alexa and Hazel hurriedly ushered the group of demigods into the dining room where they always hold the meeting over snacks

A chill shot down Alexa's spine, eliciting a full-out tremble from her small form. She swallowed nervously, gaze darting around at all the demigods present but none of them seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary; something was wrong. She shifted nervously in her seat, biting her lip and considering the risks of calling the foreign forces out.