CHAPTER ELEVEN:
ALWAYS

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NONE OF THEM SPOKE until the glow of Quebec City was a distant memory. Annais almost felt paranoid, like the winds would carry their voices back to Boreas and reveal their secrets. Jason was the first to speak up, complimenting Piper on the brilliant job she did translating for them. Annais agreed with him. Khione had gotten under her skin within seconds of meeting her. Seeing her rotten expression every time Piper spoke to her father... one of the few good things to come out of their visit to the God.

Piper, on the other hand, only sighed and muttered something in French. Annais arched an eyebrow at her. She knew Piper was confused about her feelings but she thought Jason's compliment would've made her happy, not sad. Instead, she looked pale and sweaty under the light of the moon, a look Annais had seen on Leo earlier that night. Why were they both hiding things from her? Hera hadn't created false memories of her, the moments she shared with them were genuine. But ever since that day at the Canyon, there was this distance between them. No bad blood, just this strange emptiness.

"What did you say?" Jason frowned at the back of Piper's head.

She was quiet for a second, crumbling and rebuilding before their eyes, then she forced a smile onto her lips. "I said I only talked to Boreas. It wasn't so amazing."

"You saved us from joining Khione's sub-zero hero collection," he pointed out, seeming to dislike that Piper was putting herself down.

"Yeah, McLean, we owe you one," Ezra told her.

At the sound of Ezra's voice, Annais' grip on the back of Jason's shirt grew tight. She hadn't allowed herself to react when in the presence of Boreas, but now that they were far enough away and the familiar sting of bitterness festered in Annais' chest.

Ezra just had to go against Annais' wishes back there. She could've caused so much damage. If Boreas wasn't so amused by the situation, who knew what he would've said at the revelation that Ezra was Hera's daughter. Speaking of, Ezra had said virtually nothing about her sudden change in parentage. It infuriated Annais. Mel too, but the younger girl was better at putting things aside. Annais, however, was not. All she could focus on was the image of Ezra being claimed by Hera, the hairpin belonging to Penelope, Ezra's indifference to everything.

Jason moving to hand her a sandwich had her jolting from her thoughts. He looked confused but didn't say anything as she muttered a quiet 'thank you,' letting him go to unwrap the bread before using one hand to eat and the other to clutch his shirt again.

"You know, I still can't believe Khione," Leo sighed. "She looked so nice."

"She looked evil," Annais corrected, swallowing a mouthful of her food before scoffing. "I don't know what you saw in her, Leo, but you were clearly imagining things."

"Yeah, trust us, man," Jason agreed. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

Like Mel, a tiny voice whispered in Annais' head. She smirked, nudging Jason's back and pointing to the blushing girl curled up behind an oblivious Leo. He chuckled, eyes flashing knowingly. Clearly, Annais and Ezra weren't the only ones that had noticed Melanie Min's interest in Leo Valdez. Maybe, just maybe, if they miraculously made it out of this quest alive and had a moment to breathe before the next one, they could work on setting up the two. Leo would forget about the ice bitch if it was the last thing Annais did with her life. Khione would only create issues they didn't need.

Nobody talked for a while longer, even if they wanted to. It seemed reality was kicking in now that they'd seen Boreas, and no one was particularly happy about it. Boreas had only let them go because he thought they would kill each other or get themselves killed. They were a mere game to him, a moment of passing amusement. Whatever was waiting for them in Chicago and beyond... Annais shuddered and forced the thought out of her mind. Gods often underestimated demigods but Boreas was so sure of himself.

The sound of metal clinking caught Annais' attention. A few seats in front of her, Ezra had pulled out her hairpin and was rubbing her thumb along the edge with a pensive frown. It tugged at Annais' heartstrings. She wasn't overly close with Penelope, but boy did she miss her cousin. She would've liked to have known about the pin sooner, but of course everything had to go Ezra's way when it came to Penelope's memory.

"Where did you get that?" Mel stammered with wide eyes. She'd looked over her shoulder at the sound, her previously flush cheeks going pale. But unlike Annais, she wasn't angry, just incredibly sad.

"Doesn't matter," Ezra snapped on instinct, adjusting the pin so that it was no longer a dagger. Then she tucked it gracefully back into her bun. The anger that tinged her voice seemed to shake Mel, making her flinch and spin away.

But Annais couldn't hold her tongue any longer. "You don't get to decide what does and doesn't matter, Ezra."

"Oh, Gods," Mel whimpered. She knew what was coming.

Ezra said nothing at first. Her shoulders had gone tense at the malicious tone of her cousin's voice, but where someone like Mel would sit there and take it, she would not. Ezra didn't care that Jason was stuck between them or that Piper and Leo were their worried witnesses. If Annais wanted a fight, she would give her one.

"You weren't close to Penelope anyway," she said harshly. "She left the pin to me."

Annais laughed but there was no mirth to the sound. Internally, her heart was thudding a mile a minute, her nerves shot to bits. She used to hate confrontation when she was a kid, but then she arrived at camp and she realised it was the only way she'd get respect with the reputation of a child of Hades. She wasn't scared of Ezra like everyone else was. She'd test the boundaries and break them without remorse. From the moment Hades' sacred helmet appeared over her and Hea's heads during a game of capture the flag when Annais was barely eleven and Hea was seventeen, Annais had known her life would never be the same.

"What's so funny?" Ezra demanded. Her voice was calm now but there was fire burning in her eyes, chaos waiting to be unleashed. Despite not being the daughter of Eris, Ezra was a lot like the Goddess. "If you have something to say, just say it."

Annais' laughter faded. Mel let out a warning sigh. "Guys, come on."

"Penelope was just as close to Mel and Hea as she was to you. And yet neither of them ran away with their tail between their legs like you did. They stayed. I stayed. Because family doesn't fucking run, Ezra."

She could see from the corner of her eye that Jason was looking between them, grimacing like he deeply regretted willingly choosing to sit between them. But for once, Annais didn't care what she was letting him learn, or about Leo and Piper. She was looking for words that would hurt and she was confident she had found them.

"Family isn't important to me?" said Ezra. "Excuse me for wanting to have just a bit of time to process the fact that she was with me when it happened. Of course, how can I forget how my parentage was revealed? Some things don't concern you!"

"We used to be so close, remember? All five of us," Annais shook her head before the sour memories could soften. "At least, I thought that we were, but you were always pulling away. Keeping your secrets. It's not about privacy, it's about trust."

"Like you can talk," Ezra spat but Annais kept going.

"You don't get to be angry at us for asking about Penelope's pin! You hid that from us. Just like you hid your feelings when she died, when you hid that your mother was Hera! When were you going to tell us that, huh? We deserved to know!"

"Annais, I swear if you don't shut up—"

"What are you gonna do? Preach what you want about what Penelope would've wanted. She was almost shouting now, her cheeks beet red, but unlike when Jason was holding her hand, this blush was from white-hot anger. "Yes, we weren't as close as you, but even I know she'd be fucking ashamed of what you've turned into."

"Okay, that's enough," Mel snapped. "You guys are being ridiculous right now. Just stop!"

Annais turned her head as her eyes watered. The look on Ezra's face when she said that... she was so angry and hurt at the same time, and Annais couldn't bring herself to care. Instead, she thought about every night she sat up waiting in the Eris cabin for Ezra to come home. She thought of Penelope's funeral. She thought of Mel's cries and Hea's distance and the overwhelming fear that she felt for Ezra's safety.

Maybe she shouldn't have mentioned the cause of their grief, but was she entirely wrong? If Annais didn't recognise the harsh and shrewd girl that Ezra Min had become, Penelope definitely wouldn't.

In the silence, the others began to fall asleep. Piper was the first one, her body lowering back until her head eventually rested on Ezra's shoulder. The dark-haired girl didn't seem pleased but she also didn't push Piper away. Instead, she dozed herself, her head perched on Piper's while her body rested on Jason's leg. Jason looked shocked and a little spooked, evoking a smile from Annais for the first time in the past hour. He pouted at her but said nothing as a yawn distracted him.

"Sleep," she insisted, instinctively opening her arms for him. "You look like you need it."

"Thanks," he muttered, but then he smiled.

Without hesitation, he leaned back and rested his head in the junction between her shoulder and neck, breathing a hot sigh along her skin as he closed his eyes. Just for that moment, she held him tight, her own breathing shaky as she stared down at him. Ezra's face hadn't left her head. It was there every time she blinked, pained and betrayed. Having Jason so close was comforting, it fought away the guilt that threatened to consume her. She would've accepted anyone's embrace but she felt at ease with him in particular, especially since she knew he trusted her so much that he could sleep with her around.

Soon enough, it was only her and Leo awake. He didn't turn to look at her but both of them were acutely aware that the other was there. Annais was reminded of hot Summer days lounging in the sun with Leo on one side of her — hands always moving to make something — and Piper on the other, either reading from a book or completing the homework they were meant to have already finished. Back when she was just a demigod watching over two fellow demigods. Where Dylan hadn't caused trouble, where she didn't have to face Penelope's death and Ezra's absence and her own struggles.

She wished they could go back to that time for just a second. But alas, they were trapped on a flying metal dragon on a quest that might just kill them before they even had the chance to live how they wanted to. How they deserved to.

"Back at Quebec," Annais said, her voice registering in Leo's brain but he gave no indication that he heard her. "You lied to Zethes and Cal. Why?"

"You wouldn't understand." That wasn't the answer Annais was hoping for but it was something at least. Leo's voice was low, a mere whisper, but Annais heard it perfectly.

"Look, I won't push you to tell me," she said eventually, eyes burning holes into his curly hair. If he'd only look at her... "But I'm here if you ever decide you want someone to know."

Then, for the first time since they left Quebec, he met her gaze. His eyes were shiny and desperately sad, but still he smiled at her with his usual Leo Valdez charm. "Thanks, Gravewalker."

"Gravewalker?" Annais' eyebrows darted to her hairline, though she couldn't help but laugh at his new nickname for her. She hoped this one wouldn't stick. "What happened to Annie?"

"She needed an upgrade."

His response amused her but she didn't have a chance to reply as Festus jostled slightly and Leo quickly turned away to guide him back on track. Jason stirred in her arms at the sudden movement, muttering something inaudible to himself. Annais waited for him to wake up, to look up at her with those sleepy blue eyes of his, but he seemed to relax at the pressure of her hands on his arms and stayed asleep.

"Cute," Leo teased when he glanced back at them, Festus now calm again.

Annais breathed out an irritated sigh. "Shut the fuck up."

Leo laughed, used to it, and they were silent again. An hour went by, maybe two, and Annais' eyes began to get heavy, her breathing slow. They fluttered shut for an instant, the familiar darkness a welcoming sight, but Annais quickly forced herself into the land of the living again. She couldn't sleep, not if she didn't have to. It felt wrong when she was so high up in Zeus' domain. However, his son had other plans.

Jason's own eyes opened as Annais' slipped shut again, an out-of-it grin curling at the corner of his mouth. He sat up, stifling a yawn and a laugh when Annais jolted awake. She scowled at him, put off by the sudden lack of warmth and the hopeful way that Jason was watching her. Maybe, and this was totally hypothetical, Annais was starting to view the teenage version of Superman as a friend.

"Sleep," he said when she started frowning at him, his grin morphing into a smirk that she wanted to punch right off his smug face. "You look like you need it."

"Oh, very funny," she scoffed but hesitated. She didn't have the strength to argue anymore than she already had. She hadn't slept since the night of the bonfire and even then it was for only four hours. But the thought of closing her eyes, leaving herself totally vulnerable... "I don't know if I can, Jason."

Jason's expression went soft and he leaned back into her arms again. The sudden comfort she found in touch hadn't gone unnoticed to the boy but he never said anything. Not then as he peered up at her through fluffy strands of pale blonde hair. "I can stay here if you want me to. If it helps..."

She swallowed thickly, nodding into his shoulder as her forehead dipped forward. Yes, they were away from Boreas' icy prison now, but a few more hours of dependence on him wouldn't be life-ending. Once she slept, she'd have enough energy to not feel so attached to his side.

Annais let her eyes close, and within seconds she was gone from the world.

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THE WALLS WERE MADE of faded red brick. That was the first thing Annais noticed when she and the rest of the Mins arrived at St Anne's Community Home. Areum Min had been dead for three days. Annais and Hea were without a mother, Mel and Ezra without an aunt. Annais didn't understand it — what her mother had done to herself, where she had gone and why the strange people dressed in matching uniforms had taken them to this place. This place was cold, desolate. They were sharing a room with six other girls, all aged from Annais' measly four years to even older than Hea, who was ten at the time. None of them spoke to the girls, going about their routine like it was normal for kids to come and go. Where were their parents? Had they disappeared like Areum Min?

The bed that the matron — a stern, emotionless woman named Beatrice — had assigned to Annais was cold and lumpy. The mattress was thin, the metal frame pressing into her back through the tattered sheets. Annais missed her mother's hugs, her warm eyes. Beatrice was the opposite of her mother. She had pale blonde almost gray hair, striking green eyes that seemed to evoke fear out of all the girls. She spoke with an unfamiliar accent — French was what Hea had called it — and glared and shouted more than she smiled. Annais didn't want to test Beatrice's patience but she couldn't wait to go home.

The clock on the wall said 3:07am. Annais wasn't the best at understanding time but she knew that this was late. Her mummy always made sure she was asleep by 7pm, and yet her mum wasn't there to read her a book or sing her to sleep like she usually did when Annais had trouble lying down.

Finally, when she could no longer stand the snores of the girl on her right — Annais believed her name was Eva, she was one of the older girls at St Annes and had been there since she was a baby — she clambered out of bed and crept across the room to where Hea was curled up opposite her.

Her sister was already awake, her dark eyes tearful as they stared at the ceiling. That was another thing Annais didn't understand. In the dead of night, Hea would cry until she had no tears left to shed. Annais didn't understand it. Had something happened to upset her big sister?

"Hea?" her voice was a frightened whisper from the foot of the bed. "Sissy, can I sleep here? I'm cold."

Hea wordlessly nodded, shifting over and holding up the blanket for Annais to crawl in beside her. The two girls sat there for a moment, Hea silently crying and Annais frowning at the side of her face. Finally, when she couldn't stand it anymore, Annais reached out to hug her. Hea held her tight, shoulders trembling with every sob.

"Mummy's not coming back, is she?" The question made Hea cry harder, and that was enough of an answer for Annais to know her mum was gone for good.

"Promise me you'll stay?" she whispered, her small face pressed against her sister's arm. If Hea didn't see her cry, then maybe her own tears would stop. "I don't want you to go."

"I promise."

With a gasp, Annais flinched awake. Barely any time had passed since she fell asleep on Jason's shoulder. The sky was still a deep shade of inky purple. Jason's frown was barely visible as her eyes adjusted to the sudden darkness. Annais' face was wet but she refused to acknowledge her teary eyes as she thought about Hea. She'd made a promise herself that night — that Hea would never see her cry, and she hadn't. Annais wouldn't let someone like Jason see it either.

Speaking of the blonde boy, he looked worried for her, eyes beseechingly searching for her own as he pressed a hand to the side of her head. Not long after she'd fallen asleep, Jason had threaded his fingers into her hair and held her against his shoulder, her body awkwardly propped against his back while she slept. Only twenty minutes had gone by since she woke up, and the look on her face when she did...

"Hey," he whispered, tapping her temple delicately in an attempt to get her to look at him. He was still holding her head but neither of them seemed to notice. "What's wrong?"

Annais went to speak, the words choked up in her throat, before her voice was quite literally stolen from her.

They should've known not to test Zeus' patience.

In the blink of an eye, Festus had shuddered to a stop. Leo shouted frantic curse words as the dragon's ruby red eyes dimmed to black and the vibrations of his body evaporated. Before any of them could so much as scream in fright, the giant hunk of metal dropped like a heavy stone.

And then they were falling.