章 128: Brother and sister reunite
{Camp Jupiter, 18th of June 2006}
Thalia POV
I was nervous. No, scratch that. I was terrified, anxious, excited, and about a million other emotions all rolled into one. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure everyone within a five-mile radius could hear it. I stood in a secluded corner of New Rome, trying to look inconspicuous (which, let's face it, is pretty hard when you're dressed like a punk rocker in the middle of Ancient Rome 2.0).
Percy and Annabeth were with me, along with our Lailaps and Swiper, as I'd started calling them in my head. We were all waiting for Grover to return, hopefully with my little brother in tow. My little brother.
Gods, those words still felt strange in my mouth, even after all this time, I mean Halcyon Green did say I would reunite with my family but how could I have guessed it would be so soon, not that 9 years was too soon, but at this moment it did feel like a short amount of time.
Annabeth had assured me it wouldn't be much longer, but her words only served to make me more anxious. What if he didn't believe Grover? What if he didn't come and just served us to the roman demigods in a gold plated platter?
I caught Percy glancing at me, concern evident in his sea-green eyes. I tried to give him a reassuring smile, but I'm pretty sure it came out more like a grimace. Annabeth squeezed my hand gently, a silent show of support. I appreciated it, even if I couldn't find the words to say so at the moment.
Just when I thought I might explode from the tension, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. A golden-haired boy came around the corner, a sword sheathed at his waist. Our eyes met, and I saw his widen in recognition. I could feel my own doing the same.
Time seemed to slow down as he started walking towards us, his pace quickening with each step. Before I knew it, he was running, and then... he was in my arms. I hugged him back fiercely, stretching my neck to rest my head on top of his hair. He still smelled like ozone and something uniquely him - a scent I hadn't realized I'd remembered after all these years.
"Sis, it's you, isn't it?" I heard him say, his voice muffled against my shirt. My eyes welled up, but I forced the tears back down. I hadn't seen him since he was two, but hearing him now, he was still my cute little brother. The same little boy who had once tried to eat a stapler.
"Yeah, Jason," I managed to choke out, my voice thick with emotion. "It's me. I'm here."
We stood like that for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. I was vaguely aware of the others giving us space, but my entire world had narrowed down to this moment, to the feeling of my brother in my arms after so long.
Finally, Jason pulled back slightly, looking up at me with those startlingly blue eyes - so much like my own, like our father's. "I can't believe you're really here," he said, his voice filled with wonder. "Ozzy... I mean, Odysseus told me you were a tree, and I thought..."
"I was," I said softly, reaching out to ruffle his hair. It was an instinctive gesture, one I didn't even realize I was making until I'd done it. "But I got better. It's a long story."
Jason nodded, a small smile playing at his lips. "We've got time for long stories, right?"
I glanced over at Annabeth, who gave a small nod. "Yeah," I said, turning back to Jason. "We've got time."
As we moved to join the others, I couldn't help but study Jason more closely. He carried himself with a confidence that looked greater than my own, and I could see the glint of metal on his forearm - a tattoo? But underneath it all, I could still see traces of the toddler I remembered. It was in the way his eyes lit up when he smiled, in the slight tilt of his head when he was curious about something.
"Everyone," I said, clearing my throat as we approached the group. "This is Jason, my brother. Jason, this is Percy, Annabeth, and... um..."
Swiper and Lailaps jumped out of our shirts as they scurried around his legs, teir fur standing on end, because of the electricty that seemd to surround my brother.
Jason nodded to all of us. "Nice to meet you all," he said formally, before turning to Percy and Annabeth. "Grover told me a bit about you on our way here."
I watched as Annabeth and Percy both opened their mouths to respond, but then seemed to think better of it. They exchanged a glance I couldn't quite decipher, before Annabeth gave a small nod to Jason.
"So where is Ozzy?" Jason asked, cocking his head to the side. "He said he would come visit from time to time, but he hasn't come once since the first time he came here."
My mood immediately plummeted, Ozzy was still in Tartarus, and we had reached wind did that mean he had already failed his quest, before I could reply and gather my thoughts Annabeth did so first.
"He's in Tartarus, in a quest of his own just like we are. The world is about to turn upside down and we think that the best way to survive it is by having both greek and roman work together, or at least that is what our prophecy said."
Jason nodded, his face becoming all serious though i could only think of how cute it was. "Yeah Ozzy already told me about reuniting camps I've been thinking of ways to do that, becoming Praetor is the first step, still if we want to talk more about this I have a place in mind. After all I'm sure Grover would appreciate it if he could take the cap off."
"Yeah," we heard a nervous bleat beside Jason, this thing is making my horns itch. So with that we began moving through the streets of New Rome, people were greeting Jason left and right completely ignoring our existence which was nice but it still felt weird being completely ignored.
Finally, we arrived at a small garden, hidden away behind what looked like a miniature Colosseum. Jason led us to a secluded bench.
We all sat on it, while Grover took the cap off and just began scratching his scalp like his life depended on it. "Damn leather." I heard him mutter.
Percy stepped forward and asked, "What's the plan you came up with?"
"Well, basically it was just becoming praetor, them meeting the senate along with Ozzy and just introduce the existence of greeks along with Lupa."
We all stared at him for a moment, I was slack jawed I wanted to say something but Annabeth once again answered first. "How is that a plan, it's two things, TWO! You were just gonna drop the bomb like that."
Jason scratched the back of his neck, "Uhmm, yeah I think it's a pretty good plan."
Annabeth placed her fingers in the bridge of her nose, "Okay, I'll try to think of something using that plan of yours."
Jason nodded, a small blush from embarrassment appearing on his cheeks, "Okay then. I'm afraid I can't stay much longer, I need to get back to the Fifth Cohort. I can't be away for too long without raising suspicion."
I felt a pang of disappointment. We'd barely had any time together, and now he had to leave again? But I pushed the feeling down, reminding myself that Jason had responsibilities here. He wasn't just my little brother anymore; he was a leader in this camp.
"I understand," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "But we'll see you again soon, right?"
"Yeah," Jason said. "Stay here, I'll be back in a few hours then we can put whatever plan you had in mind into action."
With those words Jason began to leave us, running back to wherever the Fifth Cohort, my eyes catching something, wind gathered at his back after which he began flying a few feet of the ground.
"You guys saw that right."
"Thalia can you do that."
"Your brother is ducking SUPERMAN!"
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