Where You Go ― Jason Grace

v. everything goes wrong

GIANNA LET GO after a long, needed moment of the two just holding each other. She sniffled quietly, wiping underneath her eyes before ushering Ophelia into the apartment. The familiar smell of Gianna's favorite candle, honeysuckle, enveloped Ophelia's senses. For a single second, she was ten years old again, not yet haunted by ghosts, still clinging to an innocence she'd lose in three years time.

"You were on that trireme, weren't you?" Gianna asked, accepting one of the cups of hot chocolate.

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah," she murmured. "You missed the welcome feast."

Gianna sighed softly, sitting down on her love-seat and gesturing for Ophelia to join her. She hadn't changed much in the six months since Ophelia had last seen her. Her hair was a tad longer, the freckles she got every summer making a reappearance on her cheeks and nose. Underneath her glasses, her hazel eyes shone in the sunlight coming through the living room windows, almost like her grandfather, Apollo, was saying hello. 

Gianna took a long sip of hot chocolate before she spoke. "I haven't been in the mood for celebrations lately," she murmured. She reached for Ophelia's hand, squeezing it. "But I'm so happy you're back, Phee. I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too," Ophelia said. "I'm so sorry I disappeared, I didn't want to, but Juno didn't give me much of a choice."

Gianna blinked in surprise. "Juno? What—what happened to you?"

Ophelia told her everything—from waking up on the Wilderness School field trip with Jason and no memories, the quest to rescue Hera/Juno from the giant king, the six months at Camp Half-Blood spent building the Argo II, all the way to their impending quest to go into the ancient lands and stop the giants from waking Gaea and destroying the gods at their roots.

"Gods," Gianna whispered once Ophelia was done. "You've been busy."

"Yeah," Ophelia agreed. "And..." She hesitated, not sure how Gianna would react to hearing what she had to say next. But she'd made a promise to her brother's ghost—she couldn't go back on that. "I saw Matt's ghost, while I was on the quest."

Gianna's breath caught audibly in her throat. "You... you saw him?"

Ophelia nodded gently. "He—he was ambushed by a family of Cyclopes in Detroit. That's... that's why he never came home."

A tear slipped down Gianna's cheek, and she was quick to wipe it away. "Did you..." She took a shuddering breath. "Did he say anything? When you saw him?"

"He asked me to tell you he was sorry," Ophelia murmured. "He said he wanted to come back, and that... that he loved you. But you already know that."

Gianna blinked, more tears falling down her face. These she didn't bother to wipe away.

It was a while before either of them spoke again. "I—I accepted that he was dead," Gianna whispered. "But now it's like I've lost him all over again."

"I'm sorry," Ophelia murmured.

Gianna shook her head. "Don't be," she said softly. "I—I needed to know what happened. As... as awful as it is, now... I don't know, maybe I can start to get closure. I..." She fidgeted with a necklace under her shirt, pulling it out. Hanging from the small chain was a familiar-looking piece of jewelry, a single diamond shining in the center of the band.

"I found the ring a few weeks after you disappeared," Gianna murmured. "He was going to propose when he got back—wasn't he?"

Ophelia swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. "Yeah," she whispered.