CHAPTER EIGHTY
JASON        GRACE

As soon as Gaea achieved liftoff, the ground solidified.

Demigods stopped sinking, though many were still buried up to their waists. Sadly, the monsters seemed to be digging themselves out more quickly. They charged the Greek and Roman ranks, taking advantage of the demigods' disorganization.

Jason put his arms around Finn's and Sylvie's waist. He was about to take off when Percy yelled, "Wait! Frank can fly the rest of us up there! We can all—"

"No, Perce." Sylvie grinned softly. "They need you here. There's still an army to defeat. Besides, the prophecy—"

"But Sylv—"

"She's right." Frank gripped Percy's arm. "You have to let them do this. It's like Sylv's quest in Rome. Or Hazel at the Doors of Death. This part can only be them."

"I love you," Sylvie told him.

"I also love you," Finn said, and Jason assumed it was meant to cut the tension, but it seemed as if she actually meant it. 

Percy obviously didn't want to cave, but at that moment a flood of monsters swept over the Greek forces. Annabeth ran up and called out, "Hey, Grace, catch this!"

She tossed him the physician's cure package, and Jason caught it with one hand.

"Guys!" Piper called out. "Problem over here!"

"Fuck," Percy cursed under his breath. "I love you guys, too!"

He ran to join Piper, as did Annabeth. Frank and Hazel turned to Finn and Jason. They raised their arms in the Roman salute, then ran off to regroup the legion.

Finn, Jason, and Sylvie spiraled upward on the wind.

"I've got the cure," Jason murmured like a chant. "You'll be fine. I've got the cure."

Finn and Sylvie looked at each other anxiously.

Jason realized they'd all lost their weapons somehow during the battle, but he doubted it would matter. Against Gaea, swords, daggers, and guns would do no good. This was about two earths... and a third power, Finn's insanity, which would—well—wreak. If it was actually until a final breath...

Well, it wouldn't matter if Gaea destroyed the world. Jason would do that part for her.

As they ascended, he gathered the wind and clouds around him. The sky responded with frightening speed. Soon they were in the eye of a maelstrom. Lightning burned his eyes. Thunder made his teeth vibrate.

Directly above them, Festus grappled with the earth goddess. Gaea kept disintegrating, trying to trickle back to the ground, but the winds kept her aloft. Festus sprayed her with flames, which seemed to force her into solid form. Meanwhile, from Festus's back, Leo blasted the goddess with flames of his own and hurled insults. "Potty Sludge! Dirt Face! THIS IS FOR MY MOTHER, ESPERANZA VALDEZ!"

"AND FOR ISLA BRIGGS!" Finn shouted.

Jason had zoomed over to them, safely maneuvering Finn and Sylvie onto Festus. It wasn't until now that Gaea realized the two girls of the Great Prophecy were here to stop her. He didn't know if the Earth Mother could have her eyes light up with glee, but Jason was pretty sure it happened.

"MY CRAZY HERO," Gaea mused. "I ONCE TRIED TO WARN YOU THAT I WOULD BREAK YOU. WATCH IT HAPPEN NOW."

"I'm not yours." Finn sneered. "And I'm done letting everything you did dictate my life. Fuck you."

She looked insane. Insanely gorgeous.

Jason wanted to kiss her, right there, in the air.

"YOU DEFY ME? YOU, WHOSE PAIN I FUELED, WHOSE EVERY SCREAM FED MY STRENGTH? YOU THINK YOUR POWER CAN MATCH MINE?"

"Insanity isn't bound by the Earth," she said. "I'm not bound by you."

Something in the air grew heavier. Jason manipulated the winds, but they were thicker. They smelled faintly of grapes. There was an uncomfortable twinge that lingered, that let Jason know. He knew this was Finn.

"NOT BOUND BY ME? FOOLISH GIRL. YOUR VERY EXISTENCE IS ROOTED IN MY DOMAIN. YOUR INSANITY, YOUR REBELLION, EVEN YOUR DEFIANCE—ALL OF IT WAS NURTURED IN THE EARTH'S SHADOWS. I GAVE YOU THAT PAIN, THAT CHAOS. YOU CANNOT UNMAKE WHAT I AM."

"Your domain?" Sylvie scoffed, a dangerous look in her eyes. One eye shone white, while another eye and her facial scar glowed green. "Leo, let me sit in front of you. I'm sick of her."

Before Leo could even speak, Sylvie was shifting. Jason's eyes widened in surprise at how much determination resided inside such a small girl.

"SILVIANA DUVALL." A shiver went down Jason's spine. "THE EARTH IS MY TERRITORY. YOU DARE CHALLENGE THAT?"

Sylvie swallowed her fear, pushed her shoulders back, and didn't back down. "You think you're invincible because you're ancient and endless? Watch me end you."

Jason felt the winds shift around them, as if they were responding to her willpower. The heaviness in the air began to crackle with electricity, mingling with the scent of crushed grapes. Gaea turned into loose white sand, but Jason summoned a squadron of venti who churned around her, constraining her in a cocoon of wind.

Gaea fought back. When she wasn't disintegrating, she lashed out

Finn and Sylvie didn't hesitate. With Festus steadying midair, Finn grabbed Sylvie's arm, her voice low and fierce. "No holding back, Sylv. If we go down, we take her with us."

Jason didn't like the sound of that, but Sylvie said, "Agreed."

The glow in her eyes intensified, as if Gaea's taunts only fueled her resolve. She moved to stand at the dragon's forefront, gripping the bronze plating for balance as the wind whipped around them. "Leo, keep him solid," she called back. "We'll handle the rest."

"Solid as molten steel, vaquera!" Leo shouted, maneuvering Festus closer to Gaea.

The dragon unleashed another torrent of flames, forcing Gaea to coalesce into her humanoid form, her earthy visage twisting in fury. While Leo focused all his attention on controlling Festus, Jason had to put all his strength into keeping Gaea off the ground. He had never done anything so difficult. Holding her up with the wind felt like he was covered in lead weights, trying to swim with only his legs while holding a car over his head.

Finn raised her hands, and the air around them seemed to thrum with tension. The weight of her power was palpable, a chaotic energy that Jason recognized from the battlefield. Finn's power wasn't just insanity—it was defiance, pure and undiluted.

Sylvie pressed her palm to the scar glowing on her cheek, then extended her arm toward Gaea. The glow from her scar erupted into a beam of searing green and white light. It shot forward, striking Gaea's chest, making her stumble. At the same moment, Finn released a pulse of energy that twisted the air into an unstable vortex. The winds Jason had summoned thickened with grape-scented chaos, trapping Gaea in a swirling storm of light and shadow.

"YOU DARE?" Gaea roared, her form cracking as if struggling to hold itself together.

Finn's voice cut through the din. "Yeah, we dare."

Gaea clawed at the winds, her body shedding grains of sand that disappeared into the vortex. With a furious scream, she lashed out, sending jagged rocks hurling toward the trio. Festus dodged nimbly, but one boulder clipped his wing, making him falter.

"Hold steady, Festus!" Leo shouted, gripping the controls as smoke billowed from the damaged wing.

Jason still didn't understand how Leo had managed to remake the dragon. Then he recalled all the hours Leo had spent working inside the hull over the last few weeks. Leo must have been planning this all along and building a new body for Festus within the framework of the ship.

He must have known in his gut that the Argo II would eventually fall apart. A ship turning into a dragon... Jason supposed it was no more amazing than the dragon turning into a suitcase back in Quebec.

However it had happened, Jason was elated to see their old friend in action once more.

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME!" Gaea crumbled to sand, only to get blasted by more flames. Her body melted into a lump of glass, shattered, then re-formed again as a human. "I AM ETERNAL!"

"Eternally annoying!" Leo yelled, and he urged Festus higher.

Jason rose with them. The winds encased the goddess, keeping her solid, but it was all Jason could do to contain her blasts of sand and soil. Her eyes were solid green, like all nature had been condensed into a few spoonfuls of organic matter.

"FOOLISH CHILDREN!" Her face contorted with miniature earthquakes and mudslides.

Sylvie didn't falter. Vines had been growing around her arms, although Jason didn't know from where. It reminded him of that Timothy Green movie Finn made him watch one time. Sylvie grabbed one of the rocks midair, the glow in her eyes spreading to her hands. The stone disintegrated into fine dust, which she hurled back at Gaea. It hit the goddess like a physical blow, forcing her to stumble further into the vortex.

Finn raised both hands, her face twisted with effort. Her body radiated an unearthly energy, and with a defiant scream, she tore Gaea's essence apart. It scattered into the maelstrom Jason and Sylvie had created.

Jason had to fight to stay focused as the overwhelming presence of Finn's power surged around them. He couldn't complain though, because he realized she and Sylvie were actually weakening Gaea. For a second, it was easier for him to encase her with the winds. It took a few moments for her to re-form again.

"Still just 'your territory?'" Sylvie taunted, her voice steady and sharp. The vines winding around her arms glowed faintly, pulsating with energy that seemed to respond to her anger.

Gaea didn't respond. Not verbally, at least. For a moment Jason thought they had seriously weakened her. But then Gaea lashed out with a massive tendril of stone and dirt.

It slammed into Festus's side, sending a shockwave through the dragon's frame. The force knocked Finn off balance, and before she could grab hold, the tendril caught her squarely in the chest.

"Finn!" Sylvie screamed, reaching out as Finn tumbled off the dragon's back.

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Jason's heart stopped. The wind he'd been manipulating stuttered, momentarily faltering as he stared helplessly at Finn's plummeting form. He couldn't move fast enough. His arms burned with the strain of holding Gaea in place, but every muscle in him screamed for release.

Her body was twisting in the air, her wild hair fanning out like a sienna halo as she tumbled toward the earth. He knew there was no way for him to reach her, not without leaving Gaea vulnerable.

"Jason, don't!" Sylvie's voice cracked, desperation clawing at her words. "You can't—"

But it was already too late.

Without thinking, Jason yanked the winds with all the force he could muster, propelling himself down toward Finn's falling form. He shouted for the winds to push him faster, his focus entirely on reaching her before she hit the ground. The chaos in the air seemed to pulse with his desperation.

Gaea's voice boomed behind him, but Jason didn't listen. He couldn't. His eyes were fixed on Finn, on her falling body. Every instinct screamed that he had to catch her, that he couldn't let her go.

But no matter how hard Jason pushed, the wind refused to obey him with the same urgency he needed. The chaos around him, the weight of holding Gaea in place, the crackling energy of Finn's power still resonating in the air—it all combined to make the world feel heavier, slower.

Jason reached out, stretching his hand toward her, but she was still falling, too fast. The winds didn't catch her, and as the gap closed between them, his heart sank.

"FINN!" he screamed, but the sound was lost in the roar of the storm.

Jason's heart shattered as the sound of Finn's body hitting the ground echoed through the maelstrom, the sickening thud reverberating in his chest like a physical blow. Time seemed to stretch in that moment, and the storm around him lost its ferocity. It was as if the world had paused—everything hung in the air, suspended in the aftermath of the impact.

He felt the weight of it, the unbearable stillness that followed. His stomach lurched, and the winds he had been controlling felt like they were suffocating him. The power that had once come so naturally to him now felt like chains, holding him in place as if to mock his helplessness.

His breath hitched, a jagged gasp tearing through him. His hands—still raised in defense against Gaea—shook violently, as though they, too, could feel the tremor of the moment. His heart hammered against his ribs, desperate to escape as if it could outrun the pain.

Every part of him screamed to ignore the enemy, to ignore the prophecy, to ignore the battle. He couldn't care less about Gaea now. Not when Finn was out there, broken and still. The winds that had been his strength felt alien to him, useless in this moment of crushing dread.

Without thinking, without any second of hesitation, Jason tore himself away from the vortex, the winds around him scattering like fragments of his resolve. The chaos that had once been his ally now seemed distant and irrelevant. He pushed forward, his wings of wind trembling under the strain, racing toward the ground where Finn had fallen.

He could hear someone screaming her name in the distance, but it felt like a muffled sound in his ears. The only thing he could focus on was Finn—her fall, the moment it had happened, the bone-crushing weight of it all. He had to be with her. He had to be.

He could feel the air pulling at him, urging him back to the fight, but he ignored it. The winds might have obeyed him once, but right now, they were powerless against the force of his desperation. His only focus was the figure lying broken below him.

Jason's breath came in ragged gasps as he plummeted toward the ground, the world around him blurring. 

"No—no, no, no," he whispered, his voice ragged as he landed hard beside her. The impact jolted through him, but he barely noticed. His gaze locked onto Finn, her hair was splayed around her head, wild and untamed like a halo of fire... but her body was unmoving, broken.

She couldn't be. She couldn't be gone.

"No," he whispered, his hand trembling as he reached out, hovering above her, terrified that touching her would make everything real. But he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't live with the thought of her being gone forever. His fingers brushed against her hair, feeling the softness of it, the life still clinging to her in the warmth of his touch.

He pressed his hand against her chest, his breath hitching in his throat as he searched for a pulse. For a second, his heart stopped—then, a faint but steady beat under his fingertips.

She was alive, but she wouldn't be for much longer.

"Hey, guys, what happened?"

It was Percy, Jason thought. Or maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was someone completely different, and Jason's mind couldn't work right, because Finn was right here and she was dying before his eyes. Her body was phasing in and out of tangibility, an outward display of the rapid beating inside his chest.

"...Finn?" Percy asked.

There was so much blood, so much pain—she looked too broken to be real, and Jason couldn't shake the image of her falling, of the moment he failed to catch her.

"No. No, Finn," Percy called out, his voice getting louder now. "Finn? Finn! What happened? Jason, man, what the fuck happened?!"

He lunged forward, but someone had already wrapped their arms around Percy, holding him back. Percy began thrashing and screaming and crying, but Jason didn't hear any of it. His mind was somewhere else entirely. He was a demigod, he was born a Roman—he was supposed to be handling the situation better than this. But for some reason, all his brain could do, was replay his entire relationship with Finn.

It all came back to him. Even the parts that Juno stole from him, the parts where he was so mean to Finn that he couldn't live with himself anymore. Everything, from start to finish. Because looking at her battered body now, this seemed to be the finish.

"Finn, please," he whispered, his voice cracking with raw emotion. "Not like this. I just got you back. You can't leave me now."

His hands shook as he gently cradled her, his fingers ghosting over her skin, terrified that one wrong move would make everything worse. The war raged around them, Percy was screaming behind him, and people were crowding around them, but it was nothing compared to the storm inside him—the storm of desperation, of the gut-wrenching fear that after all they had been through, after everything they had fought for, this could be the end for her.

"Hey," he heard a whisper. "I love you."

Jason's heart lurched. He choked on a sob at Finn's broken voice. They were the exact words Jason had used to confess his love for Finn, and now she was using them against him.

"Finn—" Jason's voice cracked, his fingers brushing against her blood-soaked hair, his eyes searching her face, willing her to stay with him. "No, no, no. You can't say that and—"

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the fear that threatened to swallow him whole. This wasn't the end. It couldn't be.

Finn's lips parted again, her words barely audible. "I'm sorry," she rasped, pain lacing her voice, "I know I messed up... I—"

Jason could feel the storm raging inside of him, the overwhelming guilt and grief threatening to drown him. "You didn't mess up," he whispered fiercely, his thumb brushing against the side of her face, where blood was starting to pool. "I should've been faster. I should've—"

"No," she interrupted weakly, her eyes—those beautiful, violet eyes—fluttering open for a moment before they closed again. "It's not your fault."

But it was. He couldn't believe how ironic it was. The son of Jupiter—unable to save his girlfriend from falling out of the skies.

"Please, Finn," Jason whispered, barely a breath of sound, his voice trembling. "Please don't leave me. I can't... I can't do this again. I can't lose you."

Her hand twitched in his, and for a moment, Jason thought he imagined it. But then her fingers curled around his, weak but insistent.

"I can't help it," Finn's voice cracked, even if she was whispering to try and prevent it from happening. "But I don't—I don't want to die. Jace, I don't want to die. I don't want to. Not again."

Jason's vision was blurring, but he could make out the mutilated body on the grass below him.

And then, without thinking, he kissed her.

It wasn't a grand gesture, not the passionate kiss that they'd shared so many times before. It was a desperate, raw kiss. He did it with all the urgency of his fear, a silent plea for her to hold on, to fight through the agony that was stealing her away. It spoke of everything they had been through, everything they still could be. Finn's lips trembled beneath his, barely responding, as if her body was too broken to give him anything more.

"I don't..." Finn was going in and out of it. "You were my last thought the first time. You're gonna be—" she took a harsh, rasping breathing, "my last thought this time too."

Jason shook his head, his heart breaking with every word. "You won't die," he whispered, though the words felt hollow, empty. "I won't let you."

But even as he spoke, he knew the truth. The damage had already been done. He had failed her, and now she was slipping away.

Finn's breath was shallow, her body flickering in and out of reality like a dying star. Jason could feel the weight of her fading presence, the life draining from her with each breath she struggled to take. Her hand, still holding his, tightened one last time before it went limp in his grasp.

"I don't wanna."

Finn closed her eyes for the last time.

"I'm serious, I don't."

She was never serious.

"We deserved more time together."

Her voice was a whisper. A horrendous, final breath. 

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

Jason's chest felt hollow, as if something fundamental had been torn from him. He held her, desperately, as if holding onto her could reverse what had just happened. He couldn't hold back the sob that broke free from his throat, raw and primal.

Percy's scream echoed in Jason's ears, a jagged, broken sound that seemed to pierce through the haze of grief clouding his mind. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion, and all Jason could focus on was Finn—her body still, lifeless in his arms.

"NO!" Percy's voice cracked with pure anguish as he finally broke free from whoever had been holding him back. With a surge of adrenaline, he pushed through the crowd, ignoring the hands that tried to stop him. His eyes locked on Finn's lifeless form, and the rage, the pain, the helplessness that he'd been holding back exploded in his chest.

Jason barely had time to register Percy's furious approach before the younger demigod was at his side, shoving him with a force that felt like an instant bruise.

"Bring her the fuck back!" Percy's words were like a slap in the face, bringing Jason out of his daze.

"I... What—"

"The physician's cure!" His breath was ragged, his face pale, but his eyes burned with fury and desperation. "Where the hell is it, Jason? You—you have it! Why aren't you using it?!"

Jason's heart stuttered in his chest. His mind felt sluggish, struggling to break free from the overwhelming weight of grief that had clouded everything. The physician's cure.

It was the thing he had forgotten about in the chaos, the one thing that could pull Finn back from the brink of death. Jason's fingers shook as they gripped Finn's limp form, the reality of her lifelessness still too much to comprehend.

But Percy's words cut through the fog in his mind, and something sparked within him. The cure. He had the cure.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there, his entire world reduced to Finn's unmoving body. But now, suddenly, he could feel his heart racing again—fueled by the one thought he had almost abandoned. He could still save her.

His hands trembled as they moved to his pocket, feeling for the vial that should've been tucked there. There it was. The small, innocuous vial—the cure that could reverse the damage, that could breathe life back into her.

Jason's vision blurred as he fumbled with the vial, his fingers still shaky with fear, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of urgency. He had almost forgotten. In the panic, in the shock, he had almost let this chance slip away.

Percy's hand gripped his arm, pulling him back from the brink of despair. "Do it!" Percy yelled, his voice raw with frustration and fear. "Jason, now! You still have a chance to save her. Don't just sit there!"

Jason snapped out of his daze, locking eyes with Percy for a split second before looking down at Finn. Her skin was pale, her body still.

His heart thundered in his chest as he uncorked the vial. He gently lifted her head, his hands trembling as he tilted the vial to her lips, the red liquid inside glimmering faintly. 

With one last, quiet breath, he let the cure flow into her mouth.

Please, Jason's mind screamed, though he couldn't say the words out loud. Please don't let it be too late.

Every second stretched like an eternity. He pressed his hand to Finn's chest again, his eyes focused entirely on the faint rise and fall of her breathing, praying it wasn't just his imagination.

Then—

A sharp gasp. A twitch of her fingers.

Jason's chest tightened as he leaned in closer, his heart racing with cautious hope. Finn's eyelids fluttered, her breath shallow but steady. She was alive.

Her lips parted. A whisper escaped, too faint for anyone else to hear. "Wonderboy?"

Jason's heart swelled with an overwhelming rush of relief and disbelief.

"Finn?" His voice cracked, his chest tight with emotion.

Her violet eyes slowly opened, and they locked onto his. There was pain in her gaze, but there was life.

"That fucking sucked," she whispered, her voice shaky but strong enough to cut through the chaos. "Again."

Percy, standing a little ways off, let out an incredulous laugh—or maybe it was a sob. His voice was watery and his face with streaked with tears. He watched with wide eyes, his breath still ragged but his expression softening in relief.

"Asshole," he said.

Jason barely registered him, too consumed by the fact that Finn was alive. That he hadn't lost her. Not today. Not after everything.

His hands were already brushing her hair away from her face, his breath ragged as he took her into his arms, holding her as if she were the most fragile thing in the world. Slowly, the physician's cure began healing her broken bones. He could feel it under his hands. He could watch it happen with his eyes.

Finn let out a soft groan as she shifted in his arms, her eyes opening fully, blinking up at him with confusion and a touch of exhaustion.

"Jace?" she rasped again, her voice shaky.

Jason's lips twitched into a smile, the knot of fear in his chest loosening ever so slightly. "Yeah, yeah. It's me." 

His voice cracked a little, but he didn't care. 

"You're alive. Don't—" He swallowed, trying to force out the emotions threatening to overwhelm him. "Don't do that again. You scared the shit out of me."

Finn's lips twitched in a weak, but unmistakable, grin. 

"Jason Grace," she said, her voice slurring slightly from the aftereffects of the cure, "did I just hear you curse?"

And because he was so overwhelmed by his feelings—so many of them that he couldn't even decide what he was feeling, he just choked out, "Fuck you."

Finn's smile widened at the snap, the slight slur in her voice only adding to the effect. She weakly propped herself up on one arm, still leaning against Jason, her eyes glinting with amusement despite everything. "Oh, come on, I'm just messing with you," she teased, her tone light but still laced with exhaustion. "Is that really the best comeback you've got?"

Jason's chest tightened again, though this time it wasn't from fear. The tension that had been coiled inside him since the moment he'd realized she was gone was loosening, piece by piece.

"You just came back from the dead. You don't get to bully me right now."

"For the record, I can bully you whenever I want," she muttered faintly. "And if I stayed dead, you would've bet your ass my ghost would be haunting you."

Jason couldn't help but laugh, a broken, relieved sound that caught in his throat. His hand brushed her cheek, feeling the coolness of her skin fading into warmth.

"Yeah, well, if you ever do that again, I'll personally make sure you regret it," Jason said, his voice shaky but laced with affection. He rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes for a moment. "Don't even think about haunting me. I've got enough nightmares as it is."

Finn tilted her head slightly, her weak grin still managing to hold that familiar spark. "You're kind of dramatic, you know that?"

Jason huffed. "Pot, meet kettle."

"Yeah, yeah." Finn exhaled. "I love you."

Three simple words, yet they sent Jason's heart soaring. It felt like riding the winds, effortless and boundless, a sensation no words could ever capture. He didn't think he'd ever grow tired of hearing her say it—especially now, when he'd come so close to losing the chance forever. The weight of what could've been made her words even sweeter, anchoring him in a moment he never wanted to let go of.

"I love you so much," Jason said. She could call him sappy for it. He didn't care.

Percy's voice cut through the moment, bringing their attention back to the chaotic battlefield surrounding them. "I hate to interrupt your heart-to-heart," he said, his tone still wavering but edged with relief. "But we're not exactly out of the woods yet."

Jason looked up at Percy, who was staring at them with an expression that balanced frustration, relief, and something resembling awe. Percy's knuckles were white around Riptide, his entire body coiled like a spring, ready for the next wave of attacks.

"Finnegan," Percy continued, stepping closer, his expression softening as his eyes locked on hers. "You okay? Can you move?"

Finn blinked up at him, her brow furrowing slightly as she tested her limbs. She winced but gave a small nod. "Yeah... yeah, I think so. Not winning any marathons today, but I'll manage."

Percy crouched beside them, his gaze flicking between her and Jason. "Good. Because we've got a war to finish, and I'm not carrying your ass."

Finn smirked weakly, her voice a whisper but still managing to carry that signature sass. "You're just mad I stole your dramatic heroic-ass death scene."

"Yeah, well, next time I'm not letting you have it," Percy muttered. He extended a hand to Jason. "Help me get her up?"

Jason nodded, his own smile small but real as he shifted to support Finn. Together, he and Percy helped her to her feet, her weight light but steady enough to give Jason hope.

As Finn leaned on Jason, she glanced at Percy, her grin feeble. "You cry for me, Jackson?"

Percy scoffed, though the redness around his eyes betrayed him. "Shut up, Briggs."

"Adorable," she murmured, her head resting lightly against Jason's shoulder.

Jason felt a swell of warmth in his chest, a grounding force amidst the chaos. Finn was alive. Against all odds, she was here, snarking and smiling. And while the battle wasn't over, the hope that had been absent moments ago now burned brighter than ever.

"Let's finish this," Jason said, his voice firm, his grip on Finn steady.

Percy nodded, his stormy gaze narrowing as he turned back toward the fray. "You know, bro, I couldn't agree more."

╰━━━ ◦ ✸ ◦ ✸ ◦ ━━━╯

BAILEY YAPS...

Talk about an emotional rollercoaster...

So insanity did in fact wreak until a final breath but it okay bc I'm joy and Finley is secretly Jesus so she came back to life pt. 2. And now she's not even half-dead anymore. She's fully alive. Yay

The winner takes it all the loser has to fallll. The day the music died so bye bye Miss American Pieee. Last words of a shooting starrrr

The son of Jupiter—unable to save his girlfriend from falling out of the skies.

If you noticed all the parallels to Florian's death I'll give you a cookie

Fun fact (don't hate me)! Finn was actually supposed to die this entire time because she was created to be a foil of Florian. Jason would've died as well because they're doomed to be together, whether it be in death or in living. But I actually grew way too attached to her and she genuinely stole the show and also my heart so SIKE BITCH SHE LIVED!! 

Okay I'm sorry for being cruel I swear that everything is okay now. Not pictured but: Jason stopped holding Gaea up with the winds meaning she could easily fall back to the ground but Sylvie went Dark Mode and really fucked Gaea up and kept her in the air and since she didn't have Finn's help so she had to amp up the powers but we know Sylvie Duvall she's literally gang of course she did it all

She put Gaea's ass to sleep by altering Gaea's memories and convincing her she wanted to sleep ik that's right. I sacrificed y'all reading it for the sake of witnessing Jason Grace's valid crashout. He's just a boy I say in Narcissa tone

ANYWAYS Sylvie Duvall getting stabbed twice 🤝 Finley Briggs dying twice