Chapter Text
JANUARY 2ND 2018
Annabeth stretched out in bed, her hand hitting the empty space beside her, the sheets cool. A cry echoes through the hall, she glances at the alarm clock on her bedside, 6:48AM, ugh. Annabeth groans slightly as she sits up, absently pulling on one of Percy’s shirts, and ambling down the hall. The sky outside is dark, the clouds filled with cold January rain.
“Hi Baby,” She greets smiling despite herself as she enters the nursery seeing her four year old pressed up against the bars of the crib trying to calm her sister down.
Attie turns to beam at her, “Hi Mama! I’m being a good big sister!”
Annabeth chuckles, “I can see that, I’m sure that Lupe really appreciates it, but lets go see what Daddy’s making for breakfast huh?”
“Okay!” Attie chirps, camblering down the hall clutching her raggedy whale stuffy.
“Mamamamama,” Lupe wails, making grabby hands at her. Annabeth picks her up enjoying her soft warm weight against her chest, Lupe quiets putting her hand into her mouth.
“Oh Lupe,” She coos, “You’re hungry huh? Well, let's go see Daddy and get some breakfast before your sister eats it all.”
“Dada!” Lupe agrees.
“Mama!” Attie yells from the kitchen.
Annabeth sighs, bouncing Lupe and making her way to the kitchen “Attie remember, inside voices.” She scolds, “Percy hows–”
Annabeth stops short, Percy isn’t there. It’s just Attie sitting on her booster seat at the table swinging her legs back and forth.
“Baby have you seen Daddy?”
“No. Mama, can I have toast and strawberry?”
“Please can I have toast with strawberry jam,” She absently corrects, dropping Lupe in her highchair and grabbing a bottle of milk for Lupe and plopping some bread in the toaster. Looking carefully for any notes Percy might’ve left, nothing. Annabeth bites back her unease. It's fine she reassures herself, Percy probably just had to pick something up or forgot the time rescuing some sea creature. Annabeth turns as a pair of footsteps approach the kitchen.
“Auntie Clarie!” Attie cheers, delighted Lupe shrieks and bangs the table on her highchair just to join in.
“Your sea spawn woke Silena,” Clarisse grumbles, hiking baby Silena up and placing her in her high chair next to Lupe. The two of them start babbling at each other excitedly, no doubt catching up on all that's happened in the eight hours they’d been apart.
Have you seen Percy?” She asks, spreading Jam on Attie’s toast and handing Clarisse Lupe’s milk.
Clarisse grabs the bottle and grabs another in the fridge for Silena, securing two clean bibs around their necks and handing them the bottles. In the one year range Lupe and Silena were being weaned off the breastmilk but were able to drink it themselves with minimal help.
“No, why?”
Annabeth bit her lip, lowering her voice and distracting Attie with her food in one smooth motion, “He wasn’t in bed this morning, which wouldn't be that weird except he didn’t leave a note letting me know.”
Clarisse frowns slightly, popping open two jars of baby food and dispensing them into two plastic bowls from the drying rack, “He’s probably just got distracted canoodling a seal or something. He’ll be back.”
Clarisse doesn’t sound fully convinced of her own words, it both validates and terrifies her.
“Mama? Where's Daddy?” Attie asks with big worried eyes. She’s too smart for her own good.
“Daddy just got a little lost sweetie he’ll be back soon,” Annabeth promises, hating the way the lie tasted. Attie hums a little and goes back to rambling on, fast and high pitched.
Annabeth doles out some Greek yogurt into bowls and gets to cutting up some fruit, while Clarisse wipes the kids sticky faces. Usually Percy would be here too helping with breakfast or making the kids laugh, the absence of him sends an undercurrent of unease over the familiar scene.
Katie comes in yawning, rubbing one hand over her pregnant belly, “Morning.”
“Aunt Katie, can I say hi to the baby!”
Katie smiles fondly at her sitting down in the chair next to Attie, “Of course sweetie.”
Attie leans in almost faceplating into Katie’s belly, putting her little hand on it, whispering in a very loud voice, “Hi baby, I love you.”
Katie visibly melts, tucking a lock of Attie’s wild dark hair behind her ear, “Aw, she loves you too Attie.”
Travis enters the kitchen, grabbing two bowls of yogurt and dodging Clarisse’s punch, “He loves you.”
Katie rolls her eyes, “Mother’s intuition jackass.”
“Well I think–”
“Travis, Katie have you seen Percy,” Annabeth cuts off, pouring a glass of orange juice for Attie.
Travis cocks his head, stuffing his mouth, “Uhhhh, no?”
Annabeth bites her lip.
“What’s wrong,” Katie asks.
Annabeth worries with her camp necklace, “I– he’s not here and I’ve got a bad feeling.”
Clarisse, Katie and Travis all straighten up, they’ve been through too much together to dismiss any gut feelings the other has.
She shakes her head, “I’m going to IM Sally.”
Annabeth heads down into the entrance hall, her bare feet padding quietly on the tiled floor. Annabeth has always been really proud of the IM center, it consists of a large metallic fountain misting water all around it with soft spotlights trained on it. The bottom of the fountain is littered with any extra Galleons that everyone drops in there. Chris is sitting on the edge of the fountain, his pants rolled up to his knees, his feet dripped into the water. Seemingly in a meeting with one of his brothers –Lefty by the looks of it, and diligently writing notes down. Annabeth sits down next to him biting down an interruption, fishing out a Drachma swiping her thumb over the etchings just to keep her hands busy.
“-So we’ll start that on Wednesday?”
“Yeah, that sounds fine,” Chris replies, writing and underlining Wednesday in his notebook.
“Okay bye, Chris bye, Annabeth,” Lefty says.
Annabeth leans in so she’s more in view, “Bye Lefty.”
“Bye,” Chris says, waving his hand through the IM. “Breakfast?” Chris asks, turning to her.
“Yeah,” She answers, “Have you seen Percy?”
Chris shakes the water off his legs before rolling his pants down, “Not since last night. Why?”
Annabeth clutches her Drachma with white knuckles, “I just… have a bad feeling.”
Chris frowns, “I’ll keep an eye out.”
Three IM’s later Annabeth is in full panic mode, twisting her wedding ring anxiously. The ocean outside is in turmoil, grey and angry like Poseidon himself knows something is wrong.
Malcolm and Mitchell, working in teaching, child psychology and development respectively had designed a schedule for the kids, and on Tuesdays at afternoons the girls do painting with Rachel. So that’s where she goes.
Clarisse is overseeing a training expertise and Chris is dealing with the building of the newest safe house being built in Virginia. So Annabeth buddles Silena up in her coat and sits her down in the double stroller next to Lupe.
Attie’s been a little fidgety so Annabeth lets her bound next to the stroller, she’s clutching her favourite wooden boat and her stuffed whale in the other, clashing them together in an epic battle. The whale appears to be winning.
A part of her is raging at this farce of normality, she should be looking for Percy not acting like nothing has happened! But she doesn’t want to freak the kids out. Regardless, seeing all the campers going through their days happy and ignorant ignites a flare of anger in her chest. And she ignores the few campers that greet her striding up to Rachel’s cave.
Rachel’s cave is what disney treehouses are to actual treehouses, it’s warm and comfortable with its own little bed room and kitchenette and is littered with half finished paintings propped up on various easels. Annabeth spots a finished painting of Percy beaming down at a new born Lupe and has to turn away before she loses it.
Rachel pulls her earphones out from where she is scribbling over a fat sketchbook on her bed grinning, “Girls!”
“Aunt Rachel!” Attie cheers.
“Aun’ Rac’l!” Silena and Lupe echo excitedly.
Rachel drops her sketchbook bounding over and giving Attie a big hug and kiss. Rachel and the girl see each other almost every week but are always so excited to see each other. Annabeth and Rachel free Lupe and Silena from their stroller placing them on the tarp that Rachel has set up for their painting day, Attie immediately grabs the little canvas’ placing two in front of Lupe and Silena and gets to work on her own. The sight of them all giggling together warms her heart, and under different circumstances would have her considering the possibility of another child.
“Aw, they’re so cute,” Rachel coos, before frowning slightly, “Hey are you okay?”
Annabeth glances slightly at the girls getting paint all over themselves, swallowing, “Percy is M-I-C… M-I…S…S-I-N-G.”
If Annabeth, an adult who has been dealing with dyslexia her entire life has a difficult time with verbal spelling her four year old has no chance.
Rachel, who has no dyslexia, understands her immediately, “What!? Are you sure?”
Annabeth shoots her sharp look and Rachel shakes her head, “Of course you are.” She glances at her recent paintings, “I haven’t seen anything. Not to do Percy anyway.”
“What have you seen?” Annabeth asks, her mind whirling.
“Nothing concrete, not yet. But you’ll be the first to know,” Rachel turns and grabs her hand, “Annabeth if you need anything, I’m here for you.”
Annabeth squeezes her hand, her heart warming, “Thanks Rach.”
Annabeth takes a deep breath, counting to ten and crouches down to the paint tarp, “Okay girls I have to go but be good for Auntie Rachel, okay?”
Attie looks up at her with big green eyes, she gets the feeling that Attie can sense that something is wrong despite how much she’s trying to keep it together, “Okay Mama, I’ll be good.”
“Good, Mama,” Lupe garbles, her face covered in Rachel’s special non-toxic paints, a bath is in her future.
Silena solemnly chews on a paintbrush, “Okay, Annie.”
Annabeth can’t help herself and kisses all the girls on their heads, “Love you.”
If it was any other day she might stay and paint with them but Percy isn’t here and pretending won’t solve anything.
She ends up sprinting through camp, all her pent up energy needing to be expunged. She keeps hoping to see Percy behind every tree and corner, despite knowing deep down that he’s not here. An hour later Annabeth ends up pacing in the empty war room before biting the bullet and pressing down the ‘all units’ button on the intercom, “This is Annabeth Jackson calling for an emergency counselors meeting, I repeat Annabeth Jackson calling for an emergency counselors meeting.”
Annabeth sits down at her chair at the head of the table, fiddling with her ring. It won't be long before not long before the camp counselors filter in. Emergency meetings aren’t held often and are taken extremely seriously; the last one was after the evacuation a few years ago.
“Hey Princess,” Clarisse says bursting in with Kayla and Will from the Apollo cabin on her tail, over the years as the older Demigods started handing down their counselor spots to their siblings to work at camp, the invitations for the counselor meeting had expanded into current and past counselor meetings. “I was in the middle of something.”
Annabeth shoots her a grave look, “Oh,” Clarisse says her irritation deflating, she had clearly thought that Percy would be found by now.
Will and Kayla send them curious looks but sit down quietly further down the table making space as more campers join in sitting down in their usual seats, Chiron bringing up the end of the pack. As soon as everyone’s seated Annabeth bangs what she’s sure is a stolen gavel against the ping pong table making it rattle, “Percy’s missing.” She says, straight to the point silencing all the quiet chatter immediately.
There's a beat of stunned silence, before everyone starts talking at once, part questions and cursing flying around.
Annabeth bangs the gravel again, “I last saw Percy on January 1st, we went to bed together,” It speaks to the seriousness of the subject that no one even cracks a smile let alone the usual chorus of giggles, “A little after ten, he was wearing his blue shark themed pajama that the girls got him for father’s day last year and the cabin 3 T-shirt from 2014. None of his other clothes are missing nor are any of his shoes or toiletries.”
“So he was taken,” Travis says, his usual mischievousness wiped from his face. The older counselors all share the same grave look, while the teenage counselors trade nervous glances; they've all heard the stories from the war.
Annabeth swallows glancing down, before straightening her shoulders, “Yes. I’ve IMed Sally, she hasn’t seen him or heard from him since Sunday. I called Nico, he said… he said that he’s not dead.” There’s a collective exhale as everyone sighs in relief, Will even slumping down in his chair. “...But Grover told me their empathy link has been muted, he’s sending the nature spirits out to search for him.”
At once all the campers sit up straighter, eyes lighting up with purpose.
“Well what can we do to help?”
“I’ll send the bronze alert through the safe house system.”
“Have you tried the mortals yet?”
“Have the gods responded to your prayers?”
“Yeah what about Poseidon?”
Annabeth feels the tears she’s been pushing down all day start to well up as everyone starts talking at once, bringing up suggestions, plans and ideas. It’s the first time since she woke up in that empty bed that she feels like she’s not alone.
Chiron bangs his hoof against the floorboards, creating a knocking sound effect, “Children I fear that this might be bigger than you think, Percy’s disappearance may just be a first step to a bigger conflict.”
Chiron looks as devastated to be saying as much as Annabeth is to hear it. But she knows better than anyone that ignorance is not bliss.
“Where’s Mr. D?” Malcolm says, staring at his empty seat.
Everyone turns to look at Pollux, who shrinks slightly under everyone’s full attention, “I haven’t seen him since… since New Years.”
Annabeth purses her lips, as the implication sinks in around the room, "Neither my mother nor Percy’s godly family has responded to my prayers.”
Clarisse scoffs, “They’re gods.”
She isn’t wrong of course the gods are flighty, but the timing strikes as suspicious and does nothing to lessen her anxiety.
Katie chuckles nervously, “It’s probably nothing right?”
Travis rubs at Katie’s bump, like he’s reassuring himself. Everyone else trades uncertain looks.
“Regardless,” Annabeth says, pushing forward, the clicking cat clock on the wall reads as ten to four, Attie and Lupe willing be needing to be picked up soon, “There’s nothing we can do about the gods, we should be focusing on Percy.”
“Well then,” Clarisse says, “Let's get to work.”
Even after everyone had started to mobilize, Annabeth felt no lighter. The words still pressed on her chest. And now, she had to face Sally and tell her the bad news. Annabeth bundles up her kids in their winter coats as they prepare for the journey into Manhatten. Attie rocks back and forth on her heels by the door while Annabeth buckles Lupe up in her all-terrain reinforced bronze stroller and puts the diaper bag on the shelf on the bottom. Attie grabs her hand as soon as they pass the doorway.
“Attie, are you excited to see Ganna?”
“Yes!” She chirps beaming.
“G’nna?” Lupe asks, looking around excitedly as if she would pop up in front of her.
Ganna being the name Sally chose for Attie and later Lupe to call her saying in a rare moment of vanity that she would not be called grandma before she was even forty years old.
Annabeth straightened Lupe’s hat, “Yeah baby we’re going to see Ganna.”
All throughout the journey to Sally’s apartment in Manhattan, Annabeth tries to enjoy this time with her daughters, Attie is lively and clearly thrilled to get the chance to tell Sally about her latest hyperfixation on bioluminescent algae, spurting fun facts to strangers on the train. Her excitement only ramps up the closer they get to the apartment. By the time they're in the elevator she is practically jumping up and down and even Lupe is squirming in her stroller. Attie runs out the elevator knocking frantically on door 3D.
Sally opens the door beaming, “Hi sweetheart!”
“Ganna!” Attie yells jumping into Sally’s arms.
Sally squeals twirling Attie in a hug planting loud kisses all over her face. Paul and Estelle stand behind them smiling.
Annabeth pushes the stroller past the doorway, Paul smiles, lifting Lupe out of seat and over his head, “Ganpa! Ganpa!” she squeals.
“Hey Sally, Paul.” Annabeth greets, giving them their own hugs and kisses, “Hi Starfish.”
“Hi Annie,” Estelle says, giving Annabeth an enthusiastic hug.
“Wow,” Annabeth teases, “Someone got big.”
It’s true Estelle is growing like a weed.
“Okay, Estelle, sweetheart, why don’t you go play with Attie before we have lunch. I’m sure she’d like to see your new doll.” Sally suggests.
“Okay!” Estelle cheers, grabbing Attie’s hand and taking her to her room, chatting excitedly.
At almost eight years old Estelle is only about four years older than Attie and is more than happy to play with her little niece. As soon as Estelle and Attie leave the room a familiar weight re-appears over Sally, lining her face and weighing on her shoulders. She slightly grabs Lupe from Paul’s arms and sinks into the sofa hugging her tightly and inhaling her sweet baby smell. Paul sits down next to Annabeth grabbing her hand and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.
“Thanks guys,” Annabeth says, rubbing her face tiredly, “I should be back soon… maybe. I don’t know how long it takes to file a missing persons.”
“Of course Sweetie,” Sally says, tears swimming in her eyes.
“I’ll find him.” Annabeth says, “I will.”
Sally smiles at her with such motherly warmth that she just wants to cry on her shoulders until everything goes away. She knows intellectually that Sally loves her with or without Percy but something loosens in her chest regardless, “I know you will Annabeth, he would do the same for you.”
Annabeth blinks heavily but shoulders on, “All the stuff for the girls is in the bottom of the stroller,” She presses a firm kiss on Lupe’s head before she leaves, promising herself she’d be back before dinner. “I’ll see you later.”
Four hours later, Annabeth seethed, the blood of a Hellhound still drying on her blade as she twists her wedding ring back and forth. She was almost thankful for the dumbass Hellhounds that tried to attack her on the way back. She imagined those stupid cops' faces on each one of those monsters' gaping maws and was feeling slightly less murderous by the time she let herself into Sally and Paul’s apartment.
“Annabeth, great!” Paul greets, looking a little more tired than usual. “We have pizza warming in the oven. We didn't want to start without you.”
“Thanks Paul that sounds great,” Annabeth says, plastering a smile on for the kids.
There’s a bustle of movement as everyone takes their seats, Estelle and Attie still gushing about Estelle’s Ever After High dolls. Sally puts Lupe in the highchair, shaking her tiny hand, “Paul, why don’t you and the kids start, I’m going to talk to Annabeth for a minute.”
Annabeth wipes a smear of tomato sauce off Attie's face, before following Sally into her, Percy and Nico’s old room. The Jackson-Blofis had adopted Nico shortly after the Titan War so there was a brief time in Percy and Annabeth’s first year of college where all three of them had shared a room, with her and Percy on the bottom bunk and Nico on the top. While Percy and Annabeth had only lived here for about a year before they moved into their own apartment, Sally had refused to change anything saying that they always had a place here. Considering that her own dad and stepmother wasted no time giving her room to the twins it had meant a lot.
The room like most things in the Jackson-Blofis household was very blue, the desk was cluttered with little knick knacks from the ocean and a stack of half finished blueprints, Nico’s mythomagic figurines sit proudly on the shelves, posters from all their favourite bands hung up on the walls. Her and Percy haven't stayed here since Lupe’s first christmas and it all comes rushing back. There’s a little more touches of Nico than she remembers, but the room still carries Percy’s faint sea scent.
Sally takes her hand and sits on the edge of the bed, “What happened?”
“They-They thought he was a deadbeat!” Annabeth clenches her fists, her anger igniting all over again. “They all just acted like he was some deadbeat dad gone out for diapers, like I didn’t know him at all. Like I was an idiot for thinking anything else… for thinking that something was really wrong. He rolled his eyes when I said Percy wouldn’t do that.”
Sally didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to; they both knew Percy would never just leave, she just let her cry.
The other counselors have been helping with everything but she still feels Percy’s absence like a missing limb and now she has to learn how to do everything one handed. With the camp, with the girls, having to be strong and lead without her best friend and partner in crime.
“It doesn’t matter,” Annabeth sniffs, wiping her face, “The mortals probably aren’t going to be the ones to find him anyway.”
“It matters.” Sally says firmly, despite her trembles.
Annabeth doesn’t know how long they stayed there, holding each other. But eventually Annabeth’s tears dried up and she was feeling better after crying it all out and was able to join her family for some pepperoni and olive pizza and some tomato soup and soaked bread for Lupe. Laughing and joking as a family. The laughter felt good, even if it didn’t quite fill the space Percy should’ve been in.
“I want Daddy!”
Annabeth sighs, “Attie… Daddy can’t read you your story tonight.”
“NO, NO, NO!” Attie shrieks, her face getting red, “I WANT DADDY!”
Lupe’s wails join in, she clutches the bars of her crib, gasping for Dada in between sobs.
Their screams are making her head pound, the pipes start creaking in the walls, Lupe’s sippy cup trembles before it explodes sending tepid water everywhere. Percy would have stepped in, he would've stopped the girls from blowing up the plumbing, he would take over when it all got too much.
Annabeth’s chest tightens, “I want Daddy too!” She screams back at Attie. The words tore out of her before she could stop them, and for a heartbeat the silence after was worse than the screaming had been.
Attie blinks rapidly sending big fat tears to silently pour down her face. “I want– I want Dah-y,” She sobs again, utterly miserable, Lupe screams wetly from her crib, “Dada.”
“Annabeth,” Connor calls from the doorway, “Take a breath, I’ve got this.”
Annabeth doesn’t hesitate striding out the door and bursting into tears, sinking to the ground. The floorboards shift as Travis sits down next to her wrapping an arm around her and letting her cry in his chest, the rough cotton of his Camp shirt scratches her face, the smell of old smoke and sweat embedded in its fabric. The sounds of Lupe and Attie’s screams start to slow from the next room.
“Thanks Trav,” She sniffs, climbing to her feet, “I should get back in there.”
Inside Connor is bouncing Lupe, gently holding her face into his shoulder, Attie is curled up in her blankets chewing on an old dummy. Annabeth crawls into Attie’s bed next to her, opening her arms for Connor to drop Lupe off into.
“Thanks Connor,” She whispers.
Connor smiles sadly, “Of course Annie.”
Connor plants soft kisses on all of their heads, looking at them with soft eyes before closing the door behind him with a soft click. Annabeth rests her forehead against Attie’s wedging Lupe between them. Her daughter looks at her with big green eyes. Percy’s eyes. Their daughters are truly the best of both of them, sometimes Annabeth is caught by surprise about how much their daughters look like them. Attie and Lupe are obviously Percy’s daughters, with the same wild dark hair and colouring. Annabeth is visible in more subtle ways: the set of their chins, the dip of their cheek bones, the way Attie squints when she’s confused, Lupe’s eyes.
“Hey baby,” Annabeth whispers, “I’m sorry I yelled.”
“I’s o-ka Mama.” Attie says around the dummy in her mouth.
“No it wasn’t okay, Attie” She argues, “You just miss Daddy, I miss him too.”
“Dada.” Lupe whimpers sleepily.
Annabeth rubs Lupe’s stomach gently.
“Where is he?” Attie whines.
Annabeth strokes her hair back, “I don’t know Attie, but you know that Daddy and I love you and your sister more than anything right?”
Attie nods her eyes drooping, Lupe snores between them. When Annabeth first learnt she was pregnant she was terrified that she would fail at showing her child the love they need. It warms her heart that Attie is so used to being told she’s loved that she’s not even properly listening to it.
Annabeth swallows, continuing, “And Daddy’s just got a little lost. But Mama and all your Aunties and Uncles are busy looking for him and I know that Daddy’s doing everything he can to get back to his girls, okay?”
“Like in the stories?”
“Yeah, baby.”
Attie blinks sleepily, her head lolling against the pillow, “Will you stay, Mama?”
Annabeth blinks back some tears, knowing that she can’t promise that. She could die, she could be taken by a god, she could be forced to leave. She got blindsided by the peace, lured into a crumbling sense of security. But for now she simply holds her daughters closer, “Yeah Attie I’ll stay.”
On the third day that Percy’s missing and yet another dead end, Annabeth stands in the surf of the ocean, uncaring of the saltwater soaking her jeans. The sea is grey and tumultuous, the smell of rain lingers in the air as she twists her engagement ring. Percy had gotten Tyson to make it. It's gorgeous, with woven silver strands encasing tiny pearls and an off yellow diamond. His voice had cracked in the middle of asking but Annabeth had just laughed. She was so happy when Percy proposed, they were young by mortal standards, nineteen years old. And already yet older than they had ever expected to be. The wind sends a chill through her blowing her hair off her shoulders, Annabeth had married Percy on this beach but the sea’s grief has transformed it into something almost unrecognizable. Annabeth doesn’t flinch as the air shifts, growing heavy with salt and just for a second the sea calms.
“Lord Triton,” Annabeth greets, keeping her eyes on the horizon.
Triton stands still in only the way gods can. Annabeth has never really been sure what her immortal in-laws thought of her. Their hatred of her mother going back a millennia, her mother having killed Triton's own daughter. Despite it she’s secure enough in her relationship with Percy to feel safe with them, they can’t hurt her without hurting Percy. And despite all their flaws Poseidon, Amphrdite and their children do love Percy and dote on Attie and Lupe.
“Annabeth.” Triton returns.
Usually she would have more patience for Triton’s brand of godly stoicism but she doesn’t have it in her today.
“Triton,” She says on the edge of pleading, turning to face him properly, “Percy’s missing, …I-I don’t,” She falters trying to find the words, “Do you know where he is?”
Triton frowns a worried crease forming in his eyebrows, his eyes, Percy’s eyes darkening, the expression making him look almost human, “Perseus has been hidden from even our eyes, wherever he may be it is not the sea.”
Where could he be? Annabeth wonders with a flash of fear, if even the sea can not find him? Pushing that thought down, Annabeth puts the pieces together, “Godly interference? Or something older?”
“Even if I knew I could not tell you demigod,” He says, visibly smoothing out his face. The way he worded that is important, gods can’t directly interfere with quests, this just confirms her suspicions about something big brewing on the horizon.
“What about your father?” She asks.
“The Olympians have been confined into Olympus, my father is furious of course–”
“The sea doesn’t like to be restrained,” Annabeth finishes with a smile.
Triton huffs a smile, thankfully not offended by being cut off, “Yes, quite,” He sobers, “But the sea also protects its own, yourself and your daughters will be welcomed within our shores and when Perseus returns to the ocean you shall be notified.”
This was more than she had ever expected. The sea is a powerful ally to have and Annabeth finds herself reeling against her brother-in-law's kindness. “We have everyone looking for him,” She explains, “The Hunter’s, Chiron’s got the Party Ponies looking as well as the nature spirits and all the safe house heads. We’ll let you know when we find him.”
Triton considers her for a moment, “It is gratifying to see Perseus’ kingdom rally in his absence.”
“Yeah, well he would do the same for us.”
Triton actually smiles at that, small but real, “Yes I suppose he would.”
He doesn’t bother to say goodbye simply there one moment and not the next the fading into a shower of seafoam washing up and down the surf. Sending a shiver down her spine and leaving her alone, staring out into the rough waves. But just for a second she feels less alone.
JANUARY 5TH 2018
Jason can’t remember if he’s ever been this confused before. He woke up on a school bus filled with people he’s never met, told he has a girlfriend, Piper and a best friend, Leo. Piper is a beautiful girl with clear brown skin and dark unevenly cut hair littered with tiny braids and faded blue-green steaks. Leo has the look and energy of a Hispanic hyperactive elf, all manic eyes and pointed ears. As far as friends go Jason’s sure he could do worse.
Jason decides to go along with it, observing his surroundings before making a plan of attack, this place is strange in a way he can’t predict.
Shortly after arriving at the Grand Canyon his laying low plan is thrown out the window as they are attacked by Venti’s, Piper almost falls to her death and the screaming manic who is their chaperone turns out to be a Faun in disguise.
And is now watching as a scary blonde woman as she yells at the sky because he lost one of his shoes.
“No! No! He was supposed to be here!” She screams, her voice cracking, cursing in a language Jason doesn’t understand.
He isn’t sure what he should be doing, in this situationship and wishes again that he could remember something, anything, to help.
“She’s crazy,” Leo laughs nervously.
“Hey lay off her,” The buff guy, with the rainbow tattoo, who had come with the screaming woman said, “Annabeth’s just disappointed that the guy she’s looking for isn’t here.”
The way he said it made Jason think that he was also hoping the guy would be here.
“Who?” Piper asked quietly, maintaining her death grip on his hand.
“Her husband,” The buff guy says, “A guy named Percy Jackson.”
After fishing themselves out of their crash landing into the lake, Annabeth rushes off without a second look to be met by the crowd of curious onlookers in violently orange t-shirts. She says something that Jason can’t make out, but judging by the way she’s moving her hands angrily it's nothing good before being swept up into a hug by one of the men.
“C’omn,” The buff guy, Butch Annabeth had called him but Jason wasn’t sure if that was a nickname or his actual name, “We’ll introduce you to the counselors."
Jason shares a look with Leo and lets Piper take his hand as they walk to the crowd. The is a mix of people the oldest of which are probably around Annabeth’s age, in their mid-twenties the youngest could easily pass as ten, look over at them with a mix of curiosity and disappointment.
Annabeth jerks her head, “We’ve got three new campers, Jason, Leo and Piper,” She points them out, “JC, Terry, Amy, can you get them settled? I have to IM everyone.”
She walks off before anyone can answer, the older people following her. A pale blue-haired boy probably around nineteen years old strides up to them, his teeth shining in the weak sun.
“Hi! I’m JC, Son of Harmonia,” He gestures to the tall lanky black boy and a small tan girl next to him, “This is Terry and Amy, Son and Daughter of Apollo, welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”
JC, Amy and Terry hand them some towels to dry off the chill from the cold water, Annabeth had mentioned that they were going to Long Island, New York and it’s a lot colder here than Arizona. The thought of the East coast sends a bolt of unease through him and Jason wonders if he had a bad experience here, before his amnesia. Maybe this camp is full of enemies.
The other campers spend the next hour showing them around Camp breaking the ‘gods are real’ bomb to them a lot more gently than Annabeth had. Jason isn’t surprised by that, it’s just about the only thing Jason feels sure about, his name is Jason and he is a demigod. Demigod of who though is anyone’s guess.
The camp is beautiful with sturdy wooden buildings nestled amongst tall trees, a light dusting of snow covers the camp making everything sparkle, without making everything to cold. It actually looks like a camp which for some reason really surprises him. If it wasn’t for the complete feeling of wrongness that’s creeping under his skin, he would probably love it.
The camp feels alive with people coming and going all familiar and comfortable with each other, the smell of strawberries carries through the air and Fauns playing music. Throughout it all Piper keeps a tight hold on his hand, still lightly shaking, while Leo fiddles restlessly with some springs.
“None of you have been claimed yet right?” JC asks with a frown.
Leo blinks dazed, “Wha– claimed?”
“That can’t be, they’re way older than thirteen.” Amy says.
Terry nods uneasily, “It’s a bad omen for sure. I mean with everything going on–”
“What are you guys talking about!?” Piper bursts. “This is crazy!”
JC sighs like they’re being annoying on purpose, “You guys are Demigods like us,” He gestures to himself, Amy and Terry, “Half human half Greek god.” He barrels on ignoring their wide eyes, “Claiming is how you know who your godly parent is, you guys are older than thirteen and should have been claimed by your parents already.”
Jason can’t help but feel like none of this applies to him. Under his amnesia he knows who his parent is he just knows it.
“You should be claimed soon,” Amy nods like she’s reassuring herself rather than them, “Probably by the campfire.”
As if cued, a holographic picture of a burning hammer suddenly appears over Leo’s head.
Leo shrieks, batting at it, “Oh my god! Is my hair on fire?! Put it out! Put it out!”
JC chuckles, “And that is claiming.”
“Vulcan,” Jason exclaims.
“What?” Leo gasps, “I don’t even like Star Trek!”
“He means Hephaestus," Terry corrects, shooting Jason a weird look, “God of fire, blacksmiths and machinery.”
“Oh,” Piper says, her voice small, “That makes sense.”
“Yeah, Leo, we'll show you your cabin after the tour and give you some time to settle in and meet your siblings.”
“Siblings!?” Leo and Piper exclaim.
Jason stays quiet as JC, Terry and Amy show them the dining hall, amphitheater, stables, archery grounds and campfire, Leo and Piper peppering in questions as they go.
“And this is the camp store,” Amy announces, jumping onto the deck of a long rectangular building, complete with peeling paint and two long and incredibly dirty windows.
The inside looks just as messy. It’s one big room with rows of clothes hung on metal rods only vaguely organized taking up most of the room, the other half being filled by a bookshelf overflowing with well worn books, camping supplies and crisp orange t-shirts with “CAMP HALF-BLOOD” written in black. A bored looking teenager sits at the counter, not even looking up at their entrance, nose stuck in a ratty paperback whose cover has been ripped off.
“This is hand-me-down central," Terry announces, “Pick out some clothes, there’s packs of new underwear in the back though, and Piper you might want to visit the Aphrodite cabin if you want a new bra.”
Leo chokes, and Jason definitely does not think about Piper’s bra.
Amy whacks him with her hand, “Terry! You’re embarrassing her.”
Piper flushes, ducking behind a clothes rack and sorting through some shirts with extreme scrutiny. Jason grabs a few sturdy looking shirts and jeans as well as a pack of boxers and some socks as well as a warm looking puffy coat, and goes up to JC leaning against the counter and chatting to the unresponsive cashier.
“Uh JC, I don’t have any money for these.” Well he has his sword-coin but he isn’t giving that up.
JC taps on the counter, “Oh don’t worry about it, Mal, we’ll need three welcome packs and these clothes.”
Mal sighs heavily, putting their book down and grabbing three identical backpacks with white fabric patches sewn on the front from under the counter, popping a bubble with their gum.
Leo dumps his stuff on the counter next to him grinning, “Really Jase? Are you allergic to style?”
Piper scoffs, putting her own clothes down on the desk in a neater pile, “Sure Leo and is that what you call those suspenders?” She turns, smiling shyly at him, “Besides, I happen to like Jason’s clothes.”
Jason returns Piper’s smile somewhat awkwardly, over Leo’s squawk of offence, it’s not that he doesn’t like her or think she’s pretty, but he only met her this morning.
“Whatever,” Mal cuts in rolling their dark eyes, handing Jason a thick black marker, “Write your name on your bag.”
Jason writes his name on the white patch. What’s his last name? Does he have one? He must have, right? Jason shakes the thought off, it’s the most upsetting thing he’s not known today. He passes the pen to Leo, who writes “Leo V” in big letters and then to Piper who just writes “Piper” with a little flower over the ‘I’.
“That’s six drachmas JC,” Mal grunts.
JC places six thick gold coins on the counter, “Terry, Amy lets go!”
Terry and Amy’s heads poke out from where they got distracted bickering over a truly hideous sparkly neon jacket.
“Yep.”
“Coming!”
JC grabs Jason’s bag as they head out pulling out an orange shirt and two books that were already in there, “Okay each of these bags come with a camp shirt, five drachmas,” He pats the small front pocket, “And these books.”
JC hands them to Jason, the books are made with a plasticly paper with covers made to look like a red leather bound journal with the words “Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods” and “Percy Jackson’s Greek Monsters” written in golden letters.
“Percy Jackson?” Piper asks, “Like Annabeth’s husband?”
Amy bites her lip, “Yeah Percy Jackson he’s the Son of Poseidon,” Neptune Jason’s translates, Their leader is a Son of Neptune? “And kinda a legend around here, he’s fought pretty much every monster and met basically all the gods,” That has to be an exaggeration, people don’t just meet gods especially more than one, “So he wrote these guides they’ll really help you when you run into more monsters.”
“Definity saved my life,” Terry agrees.
Huh. Jason takes a quick look through the gods book opening it on a random page, Juno or Hera as she’s marked as stares back at him expectedly.
“What's that building there? Piper asks, jerking Jason out of his thoughts he shoves the books and clothes into his new bag.
Piper points at a large house on the edge of the flattened earth that makes the most populated parts of camp. It looks like a small Greek palace just with added electricity with large windows and pillars, its front door painted a bright blue. Vines growing thickly up the sides, and a lively garden out outside.
“Oh that’s Blue Door,” JC says, “It’s basically where the married demigods and their families live.”
“Yeah!” Amy adds excitedly, “We’re about to have four Crosses here.”
“Crosses?”
Amy shrugs slightly, “Right, you wouldn't know. Crosses are basically what we call the kid of two demigods, because it’s a cross between two gods' children, like Hermes and Demter or Poseidon and Athena.”
“And there's only four?” Jason asks dumbfounded, “Everyone else here is a full demigod?”
Terry’s eyebrows furrow, “Uh obviously?”
Jason didn’t think it was obvious, do the gods really interact with mortals that much?
“Yeah we’re kinda in a bit of a baby boom right now,” JC explains, fiddling with his beaded necklace’s dozen beads, “After the Titan war Percy made the gods claim all their kids and then the cabin counselors started expanding and improving camp and then the older campers started getting married and having kids. So our numbers are better than ever!”
“You’ll meet them eventually,” Amy reassures, “They’re adorable!”
Terry nods sagely, like Amy had just said something incredibly wise.
“Okay?” Leo drew out nodding awkwardly, “So how long are we here for?”
JC shrugs, “That’s up to you, 99 percent of campers come for at least the summer months, but many of them also stay year-round.” The further he gets in his spiel the more passionate he gets about it, “We’re technically registered as a homeschooling program and foster house and we do have academic lessons during the school years, so if you do choose to stay you can go to whatever college you want. Or you can always come back and work for camp, there’s tons of options for jobs,” He starts ticking them off on his fingers,”Design, engineering, building, conservation, accounting, management and other ones that I’m forgetting but you can set up a meeting with Kayla Knowles from the Apollo cabin to get into it more.”
“You sounded like a guidance counselor," Amy teases under her breath, nudging JC with her elbow.
He nudges her back, “Shut up.”
Leo blinks rapidly, “Wait so we can just stay here for as long as we like and go to school and get jobs and everything? And the camp will help us do it? What’s the catch?”
“There isn’t a catch Leo,” Terry says gently, “You guys are a part of our family now.”
Family the word snags at something inside Jason’s chest.
JC swallows, looking much sadder, “Demigods don’t tend to have long or happy lives.” A chill goes up his spine, “Camp is a safe space for us, we just want to help each other out.”
Leo swallows heavily rubbing his hands harshly over his face, Jason carefully looks away not wanting to embarrass him.
“Why don’t Demigods live long?” Piper asks nervously, fiddling with her hair.
JC sighs sadly, "Because monsters will seek you out wherever you go, they like the scents of Half-Bloods,” He explains, “And camp is the only safe place for you.”
Piper goes quiet again, squeezing his hand desperately while Leo laughs involuntarily.
Not the only place, Jason bites back as the thought floats up like a fact, but he can’t find the words to explain his certainty.
“Anyway,” Amy says, spreading her arms out, “Here’s the mess hall.”
The mess hall consists of about 40 wooden picnic tables in rows on each side of a huge bronze fire pit raised on a marble platform surrounded loosely by pillars. The longest table at the head has plates and cups stacked on one end.
“There’s no roof? What happens if it rains?” Piper asks, confusedly.
Terry snorts, “Well we still have to eat don’t we?”
Piper shares an incredulous look with Leo and Jason.
JC rolls his eyes, tapping a number “3” carved into the closest table. “Okay, well each cabin has a table but as long as you sacrifice an offering to the patron god asking and thank them after you can pretty much sit anywhere you want.”
“Well other than table 2 or 8.” Amy says.
“2 is Hera and she hates demigods,” JC explains, “And 8 is Artemis whose hunters use it when they come here.”
Huh.
“Moving on,” Amy prompts.
JC picks off where she left off, “We’ll drop Leo off at the Hephaestus cabin to meet his siblings and when I’ll bring you two to the Undetermined cabin to drop off your stuff before the campfire tonight, hopefully you’ll be claimed there.”
“The gods can be a little dramatic," Terry chimes in.
JC sighs, “Terry.”
Terry just shrugs, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Amy snickers into her elbow as Jason tenses waiting for some sort of punishment for the blasphemy, but none comes, everyone just acts like it’s normal to disrespect the gods.
It’s only a few minutes later that they’re dropping Leo off at a building that, despite Jason only knowing him for about six hours, looks like Leo’s dream cabin. With various buttons and metal contraptions lining the outside and tiny smoking chimneys on the top.
JC knocks firmly on the wooden door right under the brass ‘9’. A floppy haired boy a few years older than them, about seventeen, opens the door, leaning against the doorway crossing his arms, uncaring of the fact that he’s smearing oil on his camp shirt. He and Leo don’t look at all alike but there's something about the way the boy eyes things like he's thinking about how to take it apart the same way Leo does that makes him believe their brothers. That and the grease stains.
“Hey Harley, got a new brother for you.”
Leo waves awkwardly, “Hey th-that’s me, Leo Valdez.”
Harley beams and Jason can see Piper and Leo relax slightly, “Nyssa! We have a new brother!”
“What?” An older woman walks to the door, sharing the same analytical eyes and grease stains as her brother and Leo.
“This is Leo Valdez.” Harley explains, waving a hand at Leo.
Nyssa smiles, “Hey Leo, I’m Nyssa Barbera and I’m the counselor for the Hephaestus cabin.”
“Hi, so– woah is that spring loaded?” Leo exclaims, looking past Nyssa at something in the cabin.
Nyssa, Harley JC, Terry and Amy all laugh at that.
“Yeah you’re going to fit right in.” Nyssa says.
After Leo’s dropped off JC waves Terry and Amy off to go to archery practice while he walks Piper and Jason to one of the cabin’s in the outer rings of the layers of cabins.
“We’ll see Leo again right?” Piper asks anxiously.
JC gives her a funny look, “Of course. You’ll have free time and activities together, plus the campfires and classes if you stay year round, look,” He explains. “it’s more like your in different homerooms, right? But you’ll still have classes together, make sense? I promise you’ll see tons of Leo, okay?”
Piper sighs in relief, “Okay, thanks JC.”
JC smiles and nudges her shoulder making Piper smile and a flash of envy to bolt through him.
Unlike the other cabins, the undetermined one is just a plain wooden cabin with a faded question mark painted on top of the door and a caduceus carved to the right of the door. JC knocked on the door, “Matty?”
“Coming!”
Matty is an Indian guy with a swoopy fringe and dark lined eyes, probably about eighteen or nineteen and an extremely chill vibe. “Yeah?”
“Got two new ones for you.”
Matty leans against the doorway looking them up and down, “They’re older than thirteen.”
JC purses his lips, “Yeah.”
Matty nods, “Okay,” He gestures to himself, “I’m Matty, Son of Hermes, I’m the counselor for the undetermined, hopefully you won’t be here long,” His eyes turn stern and suddenly he looks older than he is, “But while you are living here you two are siblings, there will be no hanky panky here or anywhere else.”
Jason lets go of Piper’s hand, crossing his arms.
“But,” Matty continues, “If, when you get claimed into different cabins and want to do it, they sell condoms at the camp store.”
“Matty!”
Jason blushes staring down at his shoes. Piper giggles awkwardly beside him blushing prettily.
“What? You know abstinence doesn’t work.”
JC sighs, “Whatever. Jason, Piper until you’re claimed Matty’s your guy for whatever you need, we’ll see you at dinner and the campfire after.”
JC gives a jerky wave walking off between the cabins. Matty waves them into the cabin. With eight children sitting in a circle on the floor between the ages of six and twelve playing a brightly coloured card game.
“Hey losers, this is Piper and Jason, they'll be staying for a while.”
Immediately eight sets of wide eyes lock onto them, Jason holds eye contact, waiting for their hazing ritual.
“Hey do you wanna play Uno with us we can deal you in?” One of the kids says, bending their cards back and forth in their hand.
What? That’s it? Jason thinks incredulously.
“Uh sure?” Piper says sitting on the floor and pulling Jason to follow.
Matty grabs the pile of cards in the center, expertly shuffling them and dealing out to Piper and Jason. And the game is off, even with Piper whispering the rules in his ear he doesn’t win, not even close, but regardless of that, there's a special kind of satisfaction in playing with the kids.
JANUARY 5TH 2018
Just like Amy predicted Piper and Jason were claimed at the campfire. Although their claiming was a lot more dramatic than Leo’s was. Piper’s still shaking from the sight of Jason getting hit by lightning. And now she’s stuck in a dress and the Aphrodite’s cabin. Piper sulked on the way to the undetermined cabin to grab her bag from her unslept bunk. Pulling her dress up so less cleavage is showing and making her way to Aphrodite cabin. Only to realise that she doesn’t know which number the cabin actually was.
Piper sighs, making her way over to the group of thirteen year old girls giggling by the fire that the cabins surround, “Hey–”
“Oh hi,” One of the girls smiles, with brace filled teeth, and a shirt with a rainbow and the words ‘Cabin 26’ written on it, “Piper right? I’m Masey, Daughter of Iris. My brother Butch brought you to camp.”
Piper absently wondered if she’d have to start introducing herself as ‘Piper, Daughter of Aphrodite’.
“Welcome to camp!” Another girl in an orange camp shirt and incredibly clear blue eyes buts in, “I’m Adana, Daughter of Hyades.”
“Hyades?”
Adana rolls her eyes, sighing with her whole body, “Goddess of rain.”
“Oh, okay… anyway,” Piper shifts clenching her fists in her skirt self-consciously, “Do you know where the Aphrodite cabin is?”
“Oh for sure!” Masey beams, pointing at one of the cabins in the first ring, “Its that one there, number ten.”
“Thanks,” Piper mutters. It's not like the girls were anything less than welcoming, it's just embarrassing to need help from a group of girls in training bras.
“See you around,” Masey yells, waving, before turning back to Adana and the rest of the girls.
Piper knocks awkwardly on the door as the brass 10 shines in the orange sunset light.
The door is opened by an Asian woman in her early-twenties, she’s movie casual gorgeous despite only wearing sparkly eyeliner, lip gloss, camp shirt and flannel pajama bottoms, her black glossy hair tied up in the perfect messy ponytail.
She smiles, showing perfectly charming and slightly oversized front teeth, “Hey Piper, I’m Drew welcome to Cabin Ten.
Cabin Ten wasn’t as girly and pink as she had feared. Truthfully Piper had been imagining a Barbie dreamhouse complete with fashionable busty but thin girls. The reality of it is a ten bunk beds all of with curtains, multicoloured fairy lights, chest of drawers, mirrors and closets creating little zones of personality. The walls are painted with blackboard paint, little lists, drawings, posters and printed out photos are littered everywhere, it looks like a teenager’s room in a sitcom, colour co-ordained, clean and with just enough knick knacks and clutter to be charming.
The campers themselves are in the mists of various night time beauty routines, the scent of lavender wafting through the air, none of them look related, the only common trait they seem to share is that they’re all strikingly beautiful. There's four of them in total aging from her age to early twenties.
Drew taps an empty bunk, “This is yours, as well as this chest of draws and half of this closet.”
Piper puts her bag down on her new bed gingerly, ignoring the other campers eyeing her curiously.
“Okay,” Drew continues, grabbing a clipboard from the wall and unclipping a piece of paper from another one. “Here write your name and age down.”
Piper takes the clipboard from her hands absently scanning the names in rows. There’s nine names written down in different handwritings with the ages written in another column and either a capital ‘S’ or ‘Y’ in the next, Drew’s the oldest at 24 the youngest being 10. She thumbs at the pen wedged under the clip, “What’s this for?”
Drew shrugs, “Head counts, we had a bit of a scare a few years ago and we had to evacuate. This just makes it easier.”
Piper, prints her name right below Isabelle Diaz’s, “What’s Y and S mean?”
Drew leans over, “Oh that’s for Summer campers and Year rounders, you don’t have to fill that out right now.”
Switching the piece of paper with the clipboard, she continues, “This is our January camp schedule –you can keep that by the way, activities are paired with other cabins and are supervised by either me, Lacey or Mitchell," She gestures to two of the older campers the boy sitting crossed legged on a top bunk waves without looking up to whatever he’s writing on a typewriter. The girl turns in her chair, her hair pinned back with a pink headband and her doe eyes bulging out from her green face mask waving excitedly. “Hi Piper!”
“Shut up Lacey.”
Lacey rolls her eyes, mimicking her with talky hands. It’s a very sisterly gesture; it reminds Piper that they’re sisters, and now they're her sisters. They share a mom, a mom Piper had long expected that she would never know. The whole dynamic is very comfortable and familiar and only serves to make Piper feel more out of place.
“Why Lacey and Mitchell?”
“Because I’ve got things to do and Lacey and Mitchell are next in line for seniority after me.” Drew’s eyes lock on hers, “But do not mistake me I am your older sister and I am in charge.”
Piper bristles at that, her tone reminding her of her least favourite of her Dad’s assistants, but doesn’t argue, Drew raises an eyebrow before turning back to her bunk settling an overstuffed sketchbook on her lap, “There’s extra toothbrushes under the sink, we’ll wake you at eight for breakfast.”
Piper wishes she had the foresight to get some pajamas from the store, a few of the shirts she has are big and soft enough for sleeping but she only got jeans and doesn’t really want to sleep in only her underwear in front of strangers.
“Hey you forgot your PJ’s?”
Looking up Piper sees a black girl her age sitting on the top bunk. Her new roommate. She jumps down from the bunk with a crash, no one blinks an eye it must by a common occurrence.
“Uh yeah.”
The girl scoffs playfully, brushing her hands down her literal nightgown, “We’ve all been there.” She sticks her hand out, "I'm Charlotte.”
She takes it, “Piper.”
Charlotte thankfully doesn’t mention that she definitely already knew that, changing the subject, “You want to borrow something to sleep in? I’ve got some extra nighties if you want or I’m sure we have some old tops and flannel bottoms somewhere.”
“The bottoms would be great,” Piper exhales relieved that she doesn’t have to wear a nightgown, “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Charlotte smiles, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the back of the cabin to the mother of all walk in closets. It’s easily the size of most rooms, with hundreds of clothes all wedged together in every colour, everything from bikinis to winter jackets overflowing the racks. A stack of shoes makes up most of the back wall, to Piper’s surprise a majority of them aren’t stilettos but well made trainers as well as several bolts of fabric stacked neatly on the floor. Her dad’s wardrobe team would lose their minds.
Charlotte laughs, “Yeah there’s not really an organizational system, so much as we all just know where everything is.”
Despite herself Piper finds herself rummaging through the racks, needing to see everything. Interestingly none of the clothes are of the recent trends, she even finds a bright red jacket complete with shoulder pads. Charlotte scoffs when she asks simply saying that they set trends not follow them.
“How long have you been at camp anyway?”
“Uh a few years.” Charlotte replies, “Since I was thirteen, anyway.”
“Did you crash into the lake too?” Piper jokes.
Charlotte barks a laugh at the rack across from her, “No nothing like that, it was a pretty standard trip, yaknow satyr finds you, monsters chasing you until you hit the border, etcetera etcetera.”
“What about your parents?”
It bursts out of her the part of her that just wants her dad taking over.
Charlotte sighs a shadow falling over her face, “My dad was killed when I was ten.”
Piper turns away, running her finger over a shiny button wishing she had never opened her mouth and that she had the courage to demand to know what happened. Is that what awaits her dad?
She’s pulled out her thoughts by Charlotte’s triumphant shout, “Ah I knew they were here somewhere!”
In Charlotte’s hands are grey and purple plaid pajama bottoms and a faded grey shirt with the words “Cabin 10” written in bubble letters inside a huge pink heart.
“Thanks,” Piper smiles, taking the clothes. They're soft in a way that says that they’ve been through countless washes. “You guys have your own shirts?”
Charlotte smiles at the shirt fondly, “Yeah, well all the cabins do,” She corrects, “Every January Drew designs a new shirt for all the Cabins. This one is from… 2015?”
Charlotte grabs the shirt and flips it over, on the back it proudly says, “Camp Half-Blood, 2015”
“Yes! I knew it,” She crows, handing the shirt back.
“Well done,” Piper congratulates half sarcastically, “Do all the cabins have a closet like this?”
“Ha!” Charlotte laughs, “No these are hand me downs from past Aphrodite campers, usually these would go to the camp store but, we like to hoard,” She shrugs, “You never know when something will come back into style.”
Piper ends up following Charlotte silently as they went through their night time routines. Thankfully Charlotte seems to realise that Piper needs the silence and doesn’t try to start up a conversion. Piper didn’t bother unpacking her clothes into her new chest of drawers, just shoving the day’s clothes back into her new bag and placing it at the foot of her bed. And getting under the sheets, rubbing her feet together to warm them up.
Drew flicks off the warm overhead lights, leaving only the individual bunks fairy lights on, “Light’s out.”
“Good night,” Lacey calls, climbing the ladder to the bed above Drew’s and clicking off her fairy lights. Drew, despite saying ‘light’s out’ doesn’t turn off her own lights, just closing her curtains with a swoosh. The fabric glowing slightly orange. Mitchell does the same, the uneven tapping of his typewriters keys echoing from behind his own orange curtains.
“‘Night guys, love you.” Charlotte says sleepily, turning off her own lights.
Drew and Mitchell echo their own responses, Piper stays silent staring at the faint outline of the slates of the bunk above, until she falls asleep.
JANUARY 6TH 2018
The next day Piper gets pulled from arts and crafts, which would usually be a relief because her cross stitch isn’t going well, she sticks next to Charlotte not knowing anyone from the Nike or Demeter cabins. Trying to detangle her thread while Charlotte talks at her she doesn’t seem to care that Piper isn’t responding just needing a person to hear.
“So it’s like–”
Charlotte trails off as Annabeth strides over with stormy eyes, holding the hand of a little dark haired girl and a baby on her hip, Jason standing behind her looking out of place.
“Piper,” Annabeth commands, “You’re coming with us.”
Piper stands falling behind with Jason as Annabeth strides off. She gives Jason a shy smile, which he returns a second later than he used to. The baby looks at her over Annabeth’s shoulder with surprisingly sharp grey eyes, Annabeth’s eyes. Her sister, because they must be sisters, looks at them curiously before going back to mumbling at her stuffed whale toy.
Piper had never considered that Annabeth might have kids, she’s a young mom she must’ve had Attie when she was only a few years older than her, which weirds her out a bit she can’t imagine becoming a mother in a few years. Piper’s chest clenches in sympathy. It's one thing to lose your husband but to have two young kids as well?
They end up at the archery range, where the Hephaestus cabin is standing armed with bows and arrows, she spots Leo holding his bow like it was going to blow up.
“Nyssa I need to borrow Leo,” Annabeth says, in a tone that speaks to her authority.
“Sure thing, Leo we’ll see you later,” Nyssa replies, stringing her bow.
Leo drops the bow bounding up to them grinning, Piper can’t help but smile back. Jason doesn’t smile just nodding at Leo like he’s a classmate and not his best friend. If Leo notices this cold shoulder he doesn’t let on turning his attention to the kids.
“Uh what's with the kids?”
“They're my kids, Attie and Lupe.” Annabeth says, pointing them out while bouncing Lupe in her arms. She starts walking back at her usual fast pace, leaving Leo, Piper and Jason scrambling behind her.
“Hi.” Attie giggles, shaking her and Annabeth’s clasped hands as they walk.
“Lupe?” Leo asks.
“Yeah,” Annabeth answers, “Lupe it’s short for Penelope, Percy, my husband, thinks she’s the coolest character in the Odyssey and a good role model to emulate.” She chuckles slightly, adjusting Lupe’s tiny owl t-shirt.
Attie’s eyes light up as the arts and craft station comes back into view, jumping in place.
“Mama, I’m going to go knit okay?” Attie interrupts, pointing at the arts and craft station.
“Yeah, okay baby,” Annabeth says distractedly, Attie runs off climbing next to one of the Demeter kids, slotting right in like a little sister, “So anyway, we didn’t like Penny as a nickname, and Lope morphed into Lupe,” She shrugs, “It stuck.”
Annabeth shakes her head distractedly, “Never mind. Attie!,” She calls, “Your sister and I are going home. Can someone please walk her home after she’s done?”
“Mama,” Attie scowls, her green eyes darkening, “I can walk by myself.”
“Of course Annabeth,” Lacey calls back, “I’ll walk her after.”
A few of the water bottles on the tables start shaking, “I’m a big girl Mama I can walk by myself.”
“Attie. I’m not debating this, Lacey is walking you home. End of story.” Annabeth says sternly, looking like such a mom it takes her back, it’s the kinda thing she would imagine her mom would do when she would pretend to have one.
Attie scowls fiercely but slumps back in her seat. Annabeth sighs deeply looking like someone just dumped the sky on her shoulders. “I’m sorry she just… misses her dad.”
“How do you know he didn’t just run off?” Leo blurts out.
Annabeth steps forward her eyes sharpening into daggers, Piper takes a step back involuntary and she can she Jason doing the same, Leo stands pinned under her stare, hands trembling while Lupe sits unbothered on her hip babbling to herself and playing with her beaded necklace.
“I’m only going to say this once,” Annabeth says, her voice cool and sharp, her eyes scanning Leo’s face like she’s looking for weaknesses, Leo gulps audibly. “Because you’re new here and because you’re a child. If you ever even so much as imply anything like that about my husband again. You will be in for a world of pain. Understand?”
A beat of silence, Lupe tugs at Annabeth’s hair. “I said, understand?”
“Yes, yes, I-I understand I’m sorry.”
“Good. Now follow me.”
Annabeth strides off to the Big House, Jason, Piper and Leo scrambling to keep up behind her. Jason gives Annabeth an analytical look, like he’s reevaluating her, it’s not a look that she’s seen on him before. Annabeth walks into the Big House like it’s somewhere she’s been all her life, leading them to a spacious office casually dropping Lupe into a play pen in the corner filled with handmade wooden toys with a kiss on her head and sinking into the high backed spiny leather chair, behind the big desk. Pulling her curly hair in a ponytail and waving at the bench in front of the desk in invitation.
“Okay, let's get you three registered.”
“Registered?”
Annabeth ignores Piper’s question, shuffling some loose papers around the cluttered desk. The action makes her look so much like a principal it makes her want to scream, look at me! But last time she did that she got labeled with attention issues and her dad sent her off to boarding school.
Annabeth twirls a pen absently looking over some sort of form. “Okay Jason you’re up first. Name and date of birth?”
“I don’t remember,” He says, his voice small but strong. “I woke up on that bus yesterday not knowing anything but my first name.”
What? Piper shares a questioning glance with Leo, Leo looks just as shocked and confused by this as she does. Piper pushes down a growing sense of dread, biting at her nails.
“Huh.” Annabeth muses, “Okay, then I’m marking your birthday as the day you came to camp, so you’ll put in the Januarys."
“Januarys'?”
“Yeah, we have a party at the end of each month to celebrate all the campers who have birthdays that month,” She says distractedly, marking something down on her form.”
“Wait really?” Leo asks before cringing back, clearly still a little weary of pissing Annabeth off.
Annabeth shrugs her eyes still on her paper, “Yeah well demigods don’t tend to get many birthdays, we like to celebrate the ones we do have.”
What do you even say to that?
“...Now Leo, your turn. Your full legal name?”
“Leo, Leonidas,” He corrects grumpily at Annabeth’s raised eyebrow, “Mateo Valdez.”
“Birthday.”
“July 7th.”
“Year?”
“2002.”
“Okay,” She hums, “Guardian?”
Leo’s face shutters, “Mrs. Peterson.”
“Foster care?” Piper would be more offended on Leo’s behalf about dragging all this up if Annabeth wasn’t so frank and unjudgmental about it.
“Yes, but JC said I could stay here year-round.” Leo says, crossing his arms.
“And you can, but we need to know who we have to mist.” Annabeth meets his eyes calmly.
“Mist?” Piper asks.
Annabeth looks between them incredulously, “Have you not seen the orientation film?”
There was an orientation film? Their silence must’ve been enough of an answer because Annabeth pinches the bridge of her nose and curses under her breath.
“The mist is a veil that keeps the existence of the godly world from mortals, basically mortals see what they want to and the mist does that. A hellhound turns into a poodle,” She explains, waving a hand, “And so on.”
Piper opens her mouth to ask a follow up, but Annabeth holds up a hand to cut her off, “We don’t have time to get into it right now, ask your siblings. Piper full name?”
“Uh…” Piper says, “Piper Rochelle McLean, June 3rd 2002.”
Piper had always hated her middle name, Rochelle because her Dad told her it was her Mom’s name and Piper had never felt that she earned having a child named after her, not when she just up and left. But she guesses that was a lie too, her mother’s not Rochelle she’s a goddess Piper’s not named after her anymore, the name is just a name.
“Guardian?”
“Um,” Piper hesitates, people always get so weird when they realize her dad is famous, “My…uh…my Dad, Tristan McLean.”
Annabeth doesn’t blink an eye at the name simply writing it down and moving on, "Contact info?”
Piper rattles off her Dad’s private number and email. Annabeth hums writing it down on her form after she unsticks three hot pink sticky notes and grabs a sharpie from the pen cup writing something else on it. “Here,” She says, sticking the notes in front of their side of the desk, “Put these on the calendar.”
Piper grabs the sticky note, grateful for the opportunity to stand up, written on it in spiky letters it says, Piper McLean, June 3rd, 2002. The calendar in question is the biggest wall calendar Piper’s ever seen covered in at least a hundred multicoloured sticky notes the older ones have been retaped, she sticks hers under June’s right next Daniel Cho, June 6th 2005.
“Hey,” Leo nudges her, “Check it out.” He points at Annabeth Chase Jackson, July 12th 1992.
The ‘Jackson’ is written in a different pen, with proud deliberate strokes, Piper can almost see Annabeth writing it with a self-satisfied smile, her husband by her side.
She’s brought out of her musing by Annabeth directing, “Okay Jason stand here.”
Jason is now standing in front of a grey piece of fabric nailed in on the wall, Annabeth pointing a bulky polaroid camera at him like it's picture day.”
“You need a photo for the yearbook?” Leo jokes, “Jase here is a shoe in for most likely to be a teacher's pet.”
“It’s in case you die,” Annabeth says bluntly, “No one deserves to be forgotten.”
Piper’s starting to get a little concerned by the amount of causal death references everyone here makes.
Click, flash. Click, flash.
The photos print out one after another, Annabeth fans them absently, “Leo you're up.”
Click, flash. Click, flash.
“Piper.”
Piper stands in front of the cloth, her converse toeing the orange duct tape on the floor. Staring at Annabeth’s camera. Should she smile? She doesn’t get a chance to decide. Click, flash. Click, flash.
“Take a seat,” Annabeth says, paper clipping the photos to the forms and scanning them in old duct taped printer before sitting back down and typing something on a computer that looks like it came right out of the eighties, the keys tapping with a satisfying, clicking noises, nothing like the sleek laptops her dad and assistants all have, Piper can’t help but be charmed by it.
Piper tugs at her hair and she can see Jason is sitting stiffly while Leo shifts restlessly in his seat out of the corner of her eye she doesn’t think she’s ever seen sit still for that long.
“Mama, Mama,” Lupe whines from her pen, “M’lk. Mama M’lk.”
“Oh fuck,” Annabeth says, glancing at the clock, “Oh gods, it’s lunch time, okay we’re going to have continue this at Blue Door.” Annabeth swiftly grabs Lupe mumbling platitudes to her while she bounces her on her hip. It's a quick walk to Blue Door, the door isn't locked Annabeth just walks right in. The house manages to be both much grander than her dad’s house and much warmer. Lupe’s cries get louder, pitching in an uncomfortable volume.
“Should we come back later?” Jason asks, looking rather uncomfortable.
Annabeth shakes her head, “No stay for lunch.”
It’s not a request, Piper takes a step towards Jason and tries not to flinch when he steps back, he doesn’t remember you yet, she reminds herself. Leo shrugs, “What are we having?”
The table is huge, seating at least twenty people with church pews on either side and set up like thanksgiving, a greek thanksgiving. Various adults bustle around setting out huge platters of Greek food, Piper spots Lacey grabbing cutlery out of the drawer. Annabeth sits Lupe down in a highchair next to another baby, before rummaging in the fridge for two bottles. Attie sits on a booster seat on one of the pews colouring.
“Attie, sweetie,” An earthy looking pregnant woman says, “Put your colouring away.”
Attie sighs dramatically before shoving her drawing and pencils between the small gap between the side of the pew and her booster seat. At the head of the table Lupe and the other baby start banging their highchair trays with little hands, whining for milk. Annabeth attaches two bibs to the babies necks, handing them their bottles which they drink greedily, “Take a seat, guys.”
Piper, Leo and Jason shuffle into a pew one at a time and are immediately bracketed in by another adult and another until everyone is seated and doling out food. Leo shrugs and grabs a few skeers of meat, Jason hesitantly follows.
“Mason, this gyros is your best yet,” One of the guys says.
Another guy, Mason, ducks his head, “Aw thanks, I experimented with the spices a bit.”
“Well that fancy cooking school would be an idiot not to take you,” A buff woman says, taking the babies bottles and switching them out for two plastic bowls filled with softer foods.
“Uh, is anything vegetarian?” Piper asks.
“Oh yeah,” Mason answers, pointing “These salads and the moussaka.”
Lacy wordlessly passes a dish down to her. Conversation breaks out around them.
“...So for the next safe house I was thinking…”
“...It’s more like a twist of the blade you know what I mean…”
“...Okay so in this Spider-Man, Tony Stark is kinda more of a dad figure…”
The chatter is wild with multiple unrelated threads of conversation jumping back and forth. It's like five times more intense than her and Leo’s most ADHD talk. It's nothing like the family meals she and her dad would have, where they would eat in slightly awkward silence or slightly awkward conversation. Jason and Leo have been sucked into a conversation about some sort of technical thing she doesn’t understand. Attie is rambling on excitedly about some sort of algae, Piper’s not really sure, at a certain point she's talking so high and fast that she can’t really make out the individual words, Annabeth for her credit despite how busy and harried she’s been is fully engaged with her daughter when she talks asking encouraging questions while spooning some chunky stew into both the babies mouths.
“Twins?” Piper asks, not really believing it, the other baby doesn’t look a thing like Lupe or Attie
“Oh no, Silena here is Clarisse’s.” Annabeth explains, “We just help each other out, it takes a village after all.”
Piper can’t help but think that it must be nice to grow up with all this family.
After lunch is finished Annabeth drags them all to a living room, dropping Lupe and Silena into a playmat while Attie flops on the sofa, “Attie you want to pick a movie?”
“Finding Nemo!”
“Alright Nemo it is,” Annabeth says under her breath, picking out a VCR tape from the shelf and putting it in the player. The clunky TV flickers on, it’s something between a flatscreen and eighties TV with both width and length.
“Do you guys not know about Netflix?" Leo asks, eyeing up the VCR machine.
“Demigods and technology don’t really mix,” Annabeth replies, “They tend to act as monster beacons, the Hephaestus cabin managed to get the more analogue tech monster proof through, so tapes.”
“Oooh, is that Finding Nemo?” One of the guys from lunch says wandering in.
“What else,” Annabeth snorts, “Jonatan, I’m just going to take Piper, Jason and Leo to one of the conference rooms, okay?”
Jonatan shrugs, sitting down on the floor next to Lupe and Silena. Attie and Lupe watch Nemo’s mom get killed with rapt attention while Silena stacks blocks with Jonatan.
“Woah,” Jason murmurs, his eyes locked on the TV. Leo has to shove him to get him moving.
“Why do you have conference rooms in your house?” Piper asks, following Annabeth through the hallways. The hallways have big glass windows where she can see inside the other rooms, like a fancy office building where the doors are all painted a different bright colour.
“These offices are for the camp and conservation programs that the camp runs,” Annabeth explains, leading them through a teal door, and sitting at the table in the room. “They didn’t have space in the Big House and this building and the programs were both new, so,” She shrugs, “It just made sense. Plus it was a fun challenge to design office space.”
This office isn’t that different from the one in the Big House. There’s a round table in the center with an inlaid pencil holder filled with pencils, highlighters and pens in every colour bracketed by spiny chairs. A table at the back holds a thick computer, printer and CD player, papers and maps are taped to the wall with an amount of notes that would make any conspiracy theorist proud.
“Have any of you seen this man?” Annabeth asks, pushing a photo across the table.
The man in the photo is obviously Annabeth’s husband; her kids have his same dark colouring and hair. With high cheekbones, an angler nose and stormy green eyes he looks like a Greek statue had come to life and decided to become a skater.
“No.”
“No.”
“I mean no but I also can’t remember anything.” Jason admits.
“But you guys can fix that right?” Piper asks, anxiously, “Jason’s memory."
“Yeah,” Leo jumps in, “I mean you guys have magic. So how hard could that be?”
Annabeth hums, chewing on a pen. “Leo, Piper, how long have you known Jason?”
Leo’s eyebrows furrow, “Uh a while?”
“About four months,” Piper clarifies.
Annabeth's eyes sharpen Piper and can practically see the thoughts racing behind them, pursing her lips, “Piper can you step out with me for a moment.”
“Uh okay?” Piper says, standing hesitantly.
“Leo don’t you dare touch the computer, printer or the CD players,” Annabeth tells him sternly, grabbing some sort of bronze orb thing out of the table drawer, “Here.”
Leo’s eyes light up poking at the orb pressing a button that makes it unfurl slightly, “This is so cool!”
Annabeth smirks slightly, “We are a camp full of ADHD teens.”
Jason gives her a questioning look, that is both familiar but lacks the fondness she was expecting, it makes her heart ache. She gives him a reassuring smile regardless and Jason quickly turns back to poking at the orb with Leo, and Piper follows Annabeth to an empty hallway.
“Piper, I don’t think your memories of Jason are real.” Annabeth says straight to the point.
“What?” Piper’s voice wavers.
Annabeth sighs, looking so tired, “Piper, I think that your memories of Jason have been manipulated.”
“What, no,” She stammers, “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Piper, why don’t you or Leo remember Jason’s last name or birthday?” Annabeth asks bluntly, "Neither of you offered the information when Jason didn’t know, why?”
Piper busters, “It- we’ve only been going out a few months! And-And some people don’t like telling people their last names or-or birthdays!” Even to her own ears her explanation sounds weak.
Annabeth just looks at her like she’s proven her point.
“Wait, no, no I remember Jason and I we-we had our first kiss in detention, we got for passing notes in class.” She says slightly desperately, “For our first date we had a picnic on the roof, we had a picnic on the roof.”
Annabeth looks at her sadly, waiting until she peters out, “Who was the teacher that gave you detention?”
“...W-What?”
“What did you wear on your first date?”
“What just because I’m from the Aphrodite cabin I’m supposed to remember that.” Piper huffs.
“No,” Annabeth says patiently, “Because when I went on my first date, I remember that I wore my favourite bootlegged jeans with a blue striped v-neck t-shirt, my hair was braided and I wore a little light mascara. The mist can’t make those small details, it’s just a veil.”
Piper racks her brain, but it’s like the harder she thinks about it the fuzzier the memories are around the sunny Jason ones, she doesn’t remember the teacher. She doesn’t even remember what the notes said, she can’t remember what she was wearing on their first date. She thinks of the lack of recognition in Jason’s face the way he flinched slightly when she took her hand and knows whether or not Annabeth’s right, that she’s lost him. Piper can’t help it; she cries, feeling like every stupid girl she’s ever seen cry over a boy. She used to make fun of those girls and here she is no better than them.
Annabeth hands Piper a box of tissues she hadn’t noticed her get. Piper grabs a handful blotting at her face, “Thanks,” She sniffs wetly, “So is this the part where you say that ‘I’m only fifteen and don’t know what love is?’”
“Percy and I started dating when we were about your age, and I knew I loved him well before that. So no I don’t think you don’t know love.” Annabeth says, staring out at the family pictures that line the walls, “How long were you together?”
Piper blows her nose and dabs at the new flow of tears, she appreciates how Annabeth worded it like it was a break up instead of a nonexistent relationship, “Four weeks. How long have you and your husband been together?”
“Ten years, this August, but we’ve only been married six.”
Annabeth was her age when she met her husband, for a brief moment Piper imagines what it would be like to marry Jason. The image falls flat on its face; there's nothing of substance behind it, just sunny thoughts.
“How long has he been missing?”
“Three days, six hours and about twelve minutes,” Annabeth replies instantly, not even glancing at a clock. It’s clear that Annabeth’s relationship isn’t just sunny memories. It’s years together, two kids, and counting the minutes he’s gone. Her own four weeks with Jason feels paper thin in comparison. Only making her feel worse.
It’s not long after Annabeth is done interrogating them abd lets them go back to their activities, when everything goes wrong and a quest is issued. Annabeth calls a war meeting with slightly manic eyes, minutes after the oracle girl, Rachel gives a prophecy. Jason can’t help but feel a rising sense of anticipation, finally something that feels familiar.
The war room in camp turns out to just be three ping pong tables lined up with an eccentric variety of chairs placed around them in a room in the big house. The counselors themselves are mostly people in their mid and early twenties with a few teenagers in the mix. Jason can recognize a few familiar faces. Jason sits next to Leo and Piper who are hoovering next to the cabin counselors they came in with. The idle chatter stops as Annabeth strides in with the air of a queen, her blond hair neatly pinned back, wearing a green shirt with a stylized ‘Cabin 3’ made out of sea animals. She sits down at the head of the ping pong tables; the seat next to her is kept open despite the fact that everyone else is wedged in together in layers along the sides. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that’s the king’s seat.
“Okay,” Annabeth says, clapping her hands together, the jewel on her ring shining in the light, “Let’s get started, Amishi you good with notekeeping?”
A teenager at the end of the tables, wiggles a notebook as an answer.
“Great, now with the new prophecy–”
“Yeah, sorry about that,” The oracle says, waving awkwardly.
“Not your fault Rachel.”
“But,” Annabeth continues, “That timed with Percy’s kidnapping, and Jason, Piper and Leo’s arrival means a quest.”
Everyone at the table groans.
“Are we sure it’s for them though?” The woman who came in with Leo asks.
“Yeah, what was the prophecy again?” Another guy asks.
Chiron steps forward, “Child of Lightning beware the earth, the Giant’s revenge the Seven will birth, the Forge and Dove shall break the cage, and Death unleashed through Hera’s rage.”
“Fuck.” The Vulcan counselor says, rubbing her face, “That’s them.”
The room breaks out into mutters, equal parts pissed, tired and scared. Jason feels a shiver run down his spine, Child of Lightning.
The pregnant woman grabs the hand of the man next to her, “What about the Seven? Like…like that prophecy after the Titan war? Storm and fire must fall? Or something?"
Annabeth sighs, her shoulders slumping, the weight of the room shifts into something heavier “Seven Half-Bloods shall answer the call, to storm to fire the world must fall, an oath to keep with a final breath, and foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.”
For some reason it strikes a cord in Jason like it’s something he’s heard before.
The buff woman slams her fist against the table, “This is gonna be a whole ‘nother thing isn’t it.”
“I don’t like this.” One of the curly haired men says.
“No one likes this Connor,” Annabeth snaps. “But there is nothing else to do! Hera told me that Jason was the key to finding Percy. Like it or not something is coming and we’ll need Percy with us. Even if it means helping Hera.”
For a moment only Annabeth’s ragged breathing is heard, Jason shifts in his seat, his chest hurting at something he can’t remember. He doesn’t know what to say. He's never felt like such a child.
“I say we move Camp to Defcon 4,” The buff woman says, “Practice evacs for twelve and under’s once a week, ramped up weapons training and mandatory Quest games.”
There's a beat while everyone digests this.
Annabeth nods, “All with Clarisse?”
Everyone's hands raise, almost all at once.
“You vote?” Jason asks, stunned down deep in his bones he was expecting Annabeth to start giving orders with maybe a few suggestions from the adults that seem to make up her inner circle.
A blonde man with Annabeth’s eyes snorts, “We’re Greek.”
“Wait-Wait,” Leo says waving his arms, “What is happening!?”
“I second that,” Piper says, her eyes wide.
“You three need to travel up to free Hera so monsters will start dying again.” Clarisse says bluntly.
“What?” Piper asks, her voice raising, “Does that even mean? Monsters are immortal?”
Clarisse throws her arms up, “Ugh, did you punks not watch the orientation video?”
“Monsters die when you strike them with celestial bronze,” JC explains hurriedly, “But they don’t stop existing and eventually they’ll come back. But monsters have been reforming faster and faster lately.”
Annabeth sighs suddenly, ageing years in a single breath, “You’ve got a prophecy Piper and they always come true.” She looks at them with kind solemn eyes, like she can see their futures, “If anyone of us could take this quest for you we would.”
Piper swallows looking down, while Leo gnaws on his nails; it only serves to make Jason feel more out of place with his excitement. No one is treating this like an honor.
“We’ll put you in Quest Games at two this afternoon, bring anything you think might be useful. Weapons and such.” The Hecate counselor says.
Everyone starts breaking out into individual conversions, talking about supplies and theories.
“Er, What are Quest Games?” Leo asks hesitantly, raising his hand.
The knowing smirks the counselors share in response are not comforting.
Quest Games turn out to be in the amphitheater, Leo fiddles with his magic tool belt, a gift from his dad, at least he’s buying Leo’s affection with stuff he actually likes. Leo, Piper and Jason stand awkwardly in the dirt bottom of the amphitheater, the stage has been cleared out for whatever this is. The rest of the campers have filled in the theater's seats passing popcorn amongst themselves.
The Hecate counselor, Jonatan and a few of his siblings, Mal from the Camp Store and a girl who introduces herself as Maggie, stand in front of them.
“Hello everyone, welcome to Quest Games!” Jonatan yells.
The crowd cheers.
“Now playing is, Piper Daughter of Aphrodite, Leo Son of Hephaestus and Jason Son of Zeus,” Jonatan announces, “The only way to win these games is for all of you to be alive by the end.”
What? “They're not actually going to try to kill us, right?” Leo mutters anxiously, his palms heating up.
“Of course not.” Piper says but she doesn’t sound sure. Next to him Jason rubs at a golden coin.
Jonatan smiles in a way that makes him look evil. “Let the games begin!”
Mal, Maggie and Jonatan raise their hands and the world goes dark. By the time Leo blinks the darkness has gone but the audience has gone with it, he and his friends are just standing in the empty amphitheater. A low fog rolls through from nowhere, fanning out and surrounding them on all sides. Jason grabs Leo and Piper’s hands moving them so they make a three person circle with their backs facing inwards. Rumbling footsteps echo, like something out of Jurassic Park and they’re the goat, the sound low and wide enough that it bounces off the amphitheater's architecture and makes it so he can’t tell where the sound is coming from. Piper gasps loud and full bodied as an eight foot figure cuts through the fog. The figure is one Leo only recognizes from the ‘Percy Jackson monster book’ that he’s suddenly wishing that he had taken notes for. The Minotaur. Leo scrambles for his tool belt, Piper raises her knife, her hands shaking, Jason flips his coin, transforming it into a golden sword. Unfortunately the sound catches The Minotaur's attention and it charges razor sharp horns aimed right at them.
Oh fuck.
Piper and Leo dive out of the way while Jason leaps ten feet up in the air, like he’s fuckin’ Mario the wind catching his shirt. The Minotaur skids as it struggles to change direction. Jason lands in front of it and charges with a war cry. Leo doesn’t have a weapon and has never felt so stupid in his life.
“Jason!” Piper cries rushing forward as Jason gets thrown across the amphitheater by one beefy arm, Piper lunges at him knife raised, her knife glances off of The Minotaur's thick skin.
“Piper!” Leo and Jason scream as Piper ducks The Minotaur's horns in the nick of time scrambling back. Jason darts forwards distracting it while Leo frantically builds a sling shot. Jason has it locked sword to horns struggling to keep his ground against the monster’s strength. Leo loads his sling shot with a thick bolt, aiming for its wild eyes.
“STOP!” Piper screams panicked, her voice seeming to echo weirdly, she clearly meant that The Minotaur should stop, but Leo’s arms waver and Jason freezes, The Minotaur takes its chance grabbing Jason around the middle pinning his arms down. Leo raises his arms again, shooting the bolt into The Minotaur’s eyes. The Minotaur roars the sound echoing down into his bones, dropping Jason and turning around to face Leo with an inhuman rage. Oh fuck I did not think that through, he thinks. Leo doesn’t have time to run, Piper screams as The Minotaur’s horn rushes at Leo’s chest. He flinches, closing his eyes preparing for pain. But nothing comes. Leo slowly prises open his eyes. The Minotaur is gone, the campers are back in the seats of the amphitheater talking amongst themselves and looking at them with half sharp and half sympathetic eyes, a few of them standing and moving around casually. His heart is pounding and his arms tremble so much that he drops his sling shot. “Leo!” Piper sobs, running unevenly towards him bundling him up in her arms and crying on his shoulder. Leo clutches at her shoulders, his ears are ringing. He thinks he’s in shock.
“What was that?” Jason asks, gasping.
“That was Quest Games,” Jonatan says.
“Where did… where did the monster go?” Leo gasps.
Jonatan shrugs, looking down at them not unkindly, “It was never real, just an illusion.”
“That's cruel!” Piper yells, still grasping at Leo’s shoulders.
Clarisse, the intimating Ares girl, steps forward, “Kinder than letting you lot get killed with the real thing.” She glares down at them, “And you idiots have some ways to go.”
“But,” Jason says, “Why’d it stop? The monster didn’t die.”
Leo tries not to be hurt by that.
“No but Leo would’ve,” Clarisse says bluntly, “And your goal in every fight is the survival of all your quest mates, above all else. Glory means nothing.”
A girl in a seven cabin shirt gives them water bottles and a Tupperware of juicy sliced oranges like they were taking a break from soccer practice and not a fight for their lives. Leo sucks the juice from one of the orange slices feeling his nerves calm and arms grow more steady at the sugar. They all sit huddled close together in silence drinking their water and eating their oranges. And Leo’s heart rate begins to slow as they drain their water and food. The Apollo girl comes back and takes their empty water bottles and Tupperware.
“Okay, you’ve had your break,” Clarisse announces, “Stand up! We’re going again!”
Again?
“What? Why?,” Piper yelps.
She doesn’t get an answer, Jonatan, Mal and Maggie raise their arms again and the world goes black.
Leo dies one more time in the Games, Piper dies twice and Jason only dies once. And the second one of them does die, the illusion drops and they get a chance to sit down, have a drink and some orange slices. Other campers cheer or trade bets with an air of cheer and sympathy that makes him think that they had once been in his very place. Before it all starts up again with a different monster.
“Ugh we are getting our asses kicked.” Leo groans, rubbing the sweat off his forehead.
Piper groans next to him retying her hair back into a neater ponytail.
“Hey to your credit you guys are getting further and further along each time.” The girl in a cabin seven shirt, Melody says.
“Well that is the point isn’t it?” Jason asks. Leo looks over at him jealously Jason is a much better fighter than both him and Piper put together, and is much less sweaty, the only reason he died that one time was because he took a blow for Piper. “For us to learn to work as a team in battlefield conditions.”
Melody grins, “You got it. You guys are a lot tighter of a unit now.”
Clarisse joins them, “Yeah, yeah good job,” She rolls her eyes, “Here’s your notes,” She says shaking an honest to god clipboard, “Piper you and Leo need to stay back more, and know your limits. Neither of you have enough training to be strong fighters yet, so sneak around and use your surroundings. You’ve got good instincts but a habit of getting in each other's way, watch what your quest mates are doing.” Despite it all Leo can’t help but feel a flush of pride and embarrassment at the feedback. She gives Jason an odd look, “Jason you’re a …strong fighter, but you’re not fighting dirty enough, you leave killing shots open to face monsters head on. This is a fight to the death, there’s no room for honor.” She turns back to her clipboard ignoring Jason's slight frown, “All of you should reread Prissy’s books, he knows what he’s talking about.” Leo would definitely be reading the books properly, this time making detailed notes.
Clarisse scribbles something down, yelling, “Okay one last time!” To the rather sweaty looking Hecate kids peering at a sheet of paper being shown to them by Melody, turning to them Clarisse looks them over up and down like a captain of an army, Leo instinctively straightens his spine, biting down the urge to genuinely salute, judging by the way he can see Jason and Piper stand taller in his peripheral vision, he is not alone in these thoughts. “Try not to die this time.” She says marching off, not even given them the time to groan before the world blacks out.
On their last quest games they actually end up killing the monster.
Leo whoops as Jason’s sword cuts through the illusion, Jason grins back at them looking so much like his memories that it aches.
“Oh my god,” Piper sighs, “That was the worst workout ever.”
Leo laughs, swaying on his feet, “You can say that again.”
“I don’t know about that,” Jason shrugs, “Feels familiar.”
What the fuck kinda life has Jason had if that ‘feels familiar’?! Maybe it’s a good thing he can’t remember anything.
“Congrats on not dying this time, pipsweaks,” Clarisse says walking up to them, “That’s going to be the best we can do with such a short time. We’ll get you to cabin 15, for a good night's sleep and you’ll get your questing supplies in the morning.”
Cabin 15 turns out to be the cozyest place Leo’s ever seen; it makes every other blanket fort in the world look pathetic. Clarisse walks right in not bothering to knock, “CLOVIS!”
Leo finches at the volume. Anything above a whisper here seems deeply wrong. A boy a few years older than them grumbles in his bed shifting like a disgruntled cat. “Mmmm, Clarisse?”
“Clovis we’ve got three questers needing a restful sleep.”
“Mmmm, okay.” Clovis grumbles sitting up while wrapping his blanket around his shoulders, “But I’m not moving so you’re going to have to go to me.”
Leo sends a freaked out look to Jason and Piper. Clarisse grabs Jason by the shoulders and pushes him in front of Clovis, Jason stumbles looking more freaked out by this than the monsters. Clovis’ eyes get a touch sharper as he looks at Jason, “How long?”
“Eight hours,” Clarisse grunts.
“Ten’s recommended,” Clovis complains.
Clarisse rolls her eyes, “Eights fine.”
“Wait? What’s happening?” Jason asks.
“Yeah,” Leo admits, “I’m not loving the vibes here.”
“Clovis here is just going to make sure you have a stress free eight hours of sleep before you’re quest.”
“Sleep is important,” Clovis agrees.
“But how?” Piper exclaims.
“Son of Morpheus god of sleep,” Clarisse explains, “It’s basically demigod melatonin, but it kicks in fast so you’ve got to get into your beds as soon as you can. Got it?”
Before they can agree Clovis reaches out grabbing their hands, muttering something in Greek. Leo tried to pull his hand back, but it was too late, the warmth was already curling through his veins like honey. The world tilted, a wave of exhaustion washes over him, settling into his blood stream, warm and comfortable. It reminds him of the times he would fall asleep in his mother’s garage. Warm and safe.
Leo couldn’t tell you how he got back to cabin nine, he has a vague memory of changing into his pajamas and someone tucking him in.
Nyssa shook him awake exactly eight hours after the best sleep of his entire life.
“Is Festus ready?” Mason asks, twirling his thumbs anxiously.
“Uh yeah. All fixed up, don’t you guys have a sword lesson?”
Harley scoffs, “You're our brother Leo, of course we’re going to see you off.”
Leo blinks, none of his other foster siblings would’ve done the same. Even the most sibling-ones probably would’ve shrugged at his absence and moved on with their lives.
“Here,” Nyssa says bossily, “I’ve packed you the most useful components, for Festus, just in case.”
She hands him a wrapped oil cloth. It's heavy and lumpy, clearly well cared for with a little ‘N.B’ stitched in the corner. Leo feels a lump in his throat.
“And,” Harley adds, “Mason and I traded to get you a box of chocolate cliff bars, in case you need a snack.”
“And we’ve packed you a knife,” Nyssa adds, “I know you don’t like them but you need something to protect yourself with.”
Leo wretches his eyes open forcibly drying them so he doesn’t end up sobbing like a little kid. He’s not used to this. Grabbing the camping bag from them. It’s really light despite being stuffed full. Probably the same kind of magic that is on his toolbelt. He carefully places Nyssa’s oil cloth in one of the front pockets.
Nyssa wordlessly hands Leo his coat, “Here, it’s been enchanted, to keep you warm.”
Leo bites down the urge to tell her that he’s never had issues with the cold. The opposite in fact. Shrugging the coat on.
His siblings walk with him to bunker nine, to pick up and double check Festus is good for flight. Each giving him a big hug before he boards. Leo can’t remember the last time he’d been hugged. He spots Piper getting similar treatment from her own siblings, Charlotte and Lacey wiping away tears. Jason stands awkwardly talking to Annabeth and her daughters.
“Good luck,” Annabeth raises her voice to carry looking over the crowd, “I have faith in you three, you’ll be back.”
She speaks with absolute conviction and a hint of humour like she’s referencing an inside joke. Despite himself Leo finds his chest inflating under her gaze, warming with her approval.
The whole camp has gathered to wave them off and Leo can’t help but look back even as the camp gets smaller and smaller. Camp has been the best home he’s ever had, he really hopes that they’ll survive to enjoy it.