MELANCHOLY [1]

THIRTY

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thirty
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WHEN VIA WOKE UP, every vestige of winter was gone from the valley. No signs of battle, either. The monsters had been vaporised. The ruins had been restored to what they were before—still ruins, but with no evidence that they'd been overrun by an army.

"Livia! You okay?" Leo rushed over to her, helping her up. His hair was filled with wood and melted snow, and his hands were grim with dirt. Via realised she probably didn't look so great herself.

"I'm fine. Where's everyone else?" She groaned. Her head was throbbing, she'd been thrown into something or the other one too many times these past few days.

Leo led her to the meadow. In the centre, Via recognised Jason lying on Piper's lap. Hera stood over them in her simple black robes and shawl. The Hunters had all been unfrozen, and Thalia knelt next to Jason. Leo and Via ran towards them.

"Piper, Thalia!" Via called out. She knelt next to Piper. "What happened?"

Thalia glared up at the goddess. "This is your fault. Do something."

Then it struck Via. Jason had kept his eyes open when Hera had gone supernova. "Oh, gods."

"Do not address me in that way, girl. I am the queen—"

"No one gives a fuck," Via snarled. "We're the ones who saved your godly ass, so fix him!"

"How dare you—" Hera took a breath in. "I did warn him. I would never intentionally hurt the boy. He was to be my champion. I told you all to close your eyes before I revealed my true form."

"Um..." Leo frowned. "True form is bad, right? So why did you do it?"

"I unleashed my power to help you, fool!" Hera cried. "I became pure energy so I could disintegrate the monsters, restore this place, and even save these miserable Hunters from the ice."

"But mortals can't look upon you in that form!" Thalia shouted. "You've killed him!"

Leo shook his head in dismay. "That's what our prophecy meant. Death unleash, through Hera's rage. Come on, lady. You're a goddess. Do some voodoo magic on him! Bring him back."

"He's breathing!" Piper announced.

Via took Jason's hand. "Pipes...he doesn't have a pulse."

"Jason," Piper called. "Listen to me. You can do this. Come back. You're going to be fine."

Nothing happened.

Via put a hand on Piper's shoulder. "Piper—"

"Healing is not a power of Aphrodite," Hera said regretfully. "Even I cannot fix this, girl. His mortal spirit—"