Heroes of Olympus: Thirteen Years Later

Chapter 6

Jason's POV
As soon as Will let me go, I rushed to my room. Piper was in bed. I wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep.

To be honest, when Piper got hurt, I was so scared. I haven't been this scared since our teens. I was shook, terrified, confused. I realized how Piper felt when I got stabbed by a dead Roman legionnaire's Imperial gold sword when we were 16. I couldn't afford her dying on me, just like she couldn't then. So I had to act calm.

Just realizing how much my arm actually hurt, I sat down on the bed next to Piper. She was apparently awake, since she sensed my presence and cuddled up to me. I used my unhurt arm to hug her. Looking at Piper closely, I just realized how much bandages they put on her.

"Hey Pipes, you better?" I whispered.

"It still hurts in places but otherwise I'm mostly healed."

"Have a bit more nectar, it'll help." I handed a glass to my wife.

"Thanks," Piper took a sip, "wait, what happened to your arm?"

"Oh, I got clawed by a hellhound while attacking," I explained, " it happened way before everything else."

"And you didn't go tell Will straight away, as usual. Heh."

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

"That explains why there was more blood on me than Will said should've come out. He freaked out." Piper gave me an 'I-get-it-now' look. Then she started stroking my hair over and over again.

We chilled in the room until Annabeth called us. We zipped to the dining area and ate the food Calypso and Reyna made. Hazel told me about Reyna's kitchen freak-out. Then I went to take my driving shift while Piper went to take her bandages off.

~●~●~●~

An arrow-silver tip, light grey tail- whooshed past. I caught a glimpse of silver- clothed figures running, just as one of them stopped. She had black hair cut short, electric blue eyes, and a silver circlet on her head. Her expression totally changed from serious to a goofy smile. I locked eyes with her and understood her message.

By the way, that girl is my sister: Thalia Grace, lieutenant of Artemis.

"Guys, quick detour! Wanna hang out with the Hunters?"

I pulled over and everybody spilled out. Zoey was the first one out. She flied towards Thalia, and tackle-hugged her with so much force Thalia had to use some of her powers to stay standing.

"Aunt Thalia!" Zoey squealed, "I missed you!"

My sister grinned. She looked at everybody present and smiled even wider.

"Zoey, gosh, you're so powerful now! Oh, hello, Anais, you look so grown now. And you too, Lukas- you look strikingly similar to your mom... and your namesake too," Thalia added, sounding ever so slightly sad, "ah, Leon, Mary, Emilie, Storm, and... Bianca. You all look older now!"

You probably wouldn't believe this, but Thalia (who looks only 16) is actually my elder sister. Long story short, she got turned into a tree when she was 12, spent 5 years as a tree, got turned back into a human who's physically 15 (tree form slowed her aging), and joined the Hunters of Artemis at about 16.

The Hunters are almost immortal- only battle can kill them- and they don't physically age. So Thalia is physically 16, even though she is technically 35. Amazing, isn't it?

"Hey little brother, how's life gone?" Thalia said.

"I told you, don't call me 'little'. You're physically younger. It seems... odd," I told my sis, "just call me Jason."

"Alright, if you say so. Since you haven't answered my question, I'm guessing you just had a battle?" Thalia looked at Piper and I. She could totally see our recently-healed scars, especially on Piper.

"Yeah, we got attacked by mean monsters!" Bianca cut in.

Thalia eyed all the little girls. I knew she wanted to recruit them.

"Hey, any of you girls wanna join us Hunters when you're a bit older?"

"Maybe." Zoey said.

"That's my niece!" And with that Thalia went to chat with Percy and Annabeth.

We hung out with the Hunters for an hour. By 'we', I meant mostly the girls. Only Thalia talked to us guys. The rest were disgusted.

After that we went back on the road. Frank took over driving, so I talked to my brave, goofy, charming, reckless daughter.

"You really want to follow Aunt Thalia's footsteps?" I asked her.

"Of course! I wanna be just like her! But I still don't want to leave you or Mom yet." Zoey looked into the distance.

"I think it's becoming a Grace family tradition to be a Hunter." I smiled.

Zoey threw herself into my arms and I threw her upwards. She floated around me, laughing.