Chapter Text
Jaden
Jaden kicked his feet up onto the dashboard, reaching for the prism he kept in his coat pocket. A ditch on the side of Interstate 80 was as good a place to park and rest as any motel, and he’d been driving the whole day. He was pretty sure he was somewhere between Des Moines and Lincoln, but there weren’t exactly many markers that Jaden could be bothered to remember. The last he’d seen had called itself ‘the World’s Largest Truck Stop’, which… he was sure it had been. That was about all he could say for it. He hoped that the next tacky tourist trap was more exciting; it was getting harder and harder to tell his siblings positive stories about his little roadtrip, and he knew if he looked even a little bit unhappy that they would beg him to just come back to camp.
Jaden twirled the prism in his palm, and let out a sigh. He should call them. He wanted to call them, but the moon was already hanging high in the sky, and the clock on the dashboard was blinking a bright red ‘11:37 pm’. Will might be awake, but most of his youngest siblings would be sleeping. He didn’t want to wake them. Most of the Apollo cabin rose with the sun, after all, and young kids with five hours of sleep was a thing he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. Especially kids that had figured out how to attach glitterbombs to arrowheads.
Besides, the shadow that he’d been watching was getting closer and closer to the car.
Jaden slipped the prism into his pocket, and kept his hand on his dagger. The shadow-that-wasn’t-a-shadow kept moving and passed the car, quick as a whip. It didn’t even seem to stop for him. That should have been that. Not having to fight a monster should have been a blessing, but he couldn’t shake the sickly feeling in his stomach. Nineteen years of life as a demigod meant that he knew something was off. Maybe it just… wasn’t interested in attacking demigods, as unlikely as that was?
Jaden nearly banged his head against the dash. Yeah, he couldn’t get that lucky. If the monster wasn’t going for him, it was going for someone else. It was clearly going for an easier target, and Jaden wouldn’t be able to live with himself if just let that happen.
Jaden dropped his feet from the dash and kicked the car into drive. He tore back onto the Interstate, accelerating well past the speed limit as he followed the quick moving creature. Jaden had to yank the steering wheel to the side as the thing went off onto one of the off-ramps. He chased it past the red motel sign at the town’s entrance, and then the second red motel sign, until he reached a disheveled field of wheat. The stalks were bent and torn, wrested from the dirt by the monster’s claws.
Jaden pressed the pedal to the floor. He tore through the field, unable to bite back the swear that fell from his mouth as he saw the creature in its entirety for the first time.
The thing was huge and hulking, with the head of a horse, and fur as dark as the shadows it had used to hide in. There were three bone white horns on its head, and its clawed feet ripped up the earth below it as it bent to attack whatever had caught its attention. Jaden slammed down on the horn, and its head snapped to face him.
The thing roared, and its jaw nearly unhinged with the effort. What must have been hundreds of sharp, gleaming teeth glowed in the headlights. The thing lunged towards the car, lowering its head and stomping its clawed feet.
Jaden braced, and then the car crumpled around him. The metal screamed as it slammed into the creature. The airbag exploded out and shoved Jaden back as he tried to duck out of the way of the thing’s horns. One horn lodged in the chair, two inches from Jaden’s neck, but he wasn’t dead. Miraculously, he wasn’t dead. He wasn’t even that hurt, all things considered, but there was another person to think of. Jaden kicked open the crumpled driver’s side door and stumbled out of the car, his head swimming and heavy. Blood dripped down his arms and his temple, but he ignored it, focusing instead on the child screaming bloody murder about twenty feet from him.
The girl couldn’t be more than twelve, and from the vines curling defensively around her arms, she was most definitely a Demeter kid. That made sense. The children of Kronides tended to have strong scents for monsters, and, gods, Jaden’s head was killing him. He had to have a concussion, at the very least. How did people think through these, again?
Jaden raised his hands as he approached the girl, smiling shakily in the hopes of seeming friendly. The girl went dead silent, eyes as wide as plates as he approached. “Hey, kid.” He greeted, glancing back at the still body of the monster. Not dust. Not dead. He had to make this quick. “Can you take a couple deep breaths for me? In and out, there you go.”
Jaden knelt to be eye level with the girl, modeling breathing for her to follow. The monster hadn’t hurt her yet. From Jaden’s quick assessment, she was unharmed, aside from the obvious panic. She’d be okay once she calmed down, as long as she got away. “I know you’re probably really confused, and you don’t know what’s going on. Your parents- your guardians? Any adult you live with probably didn’t tell you, and that would have kept you safe until now, but I don’t- I don’t think you can avoid it now, so I’ll tell you.”
Jaden took a deep breath, reaching into his pocket. “You’re a demigod. It’s why monsters are coming after you, and it means you need to go to a special place to stay safe. It’s called Camp Half-Blood, and no monsters will be able to hurt you there. Here-” Jaden pulled out the prism, pressing it into her hand, along with the few drachmas he could find in his pockets. He kept two drachmas for himself, and tried not to think about it. “Take this. When you get home, make a rainbow, and throw one of those coins through it. It sounds silly, but for us, it’s like a phone call. Ask Iris to send a message to Chiron, at Camp Half-Blood. He’ll help you. Tell him Jaden sent you, alright? Now go home. Quickly, you’ve gotta hurry, okay? Ask your guardians to get you out of town, now.”
Jaden saw the monster twitch from the corner of his eye, and he cut the girl off before she could ask him anything. “Go, kid. Now.” Jaden said firmly, relief flooding him as the girl finally turned and ran.
Jaden turned back to the monster.
The head of the thing was thrashing now, trying to yank its antlers free from the car’s cushion. Jaden swallowed, palming his Celestial Bronze dagger. He wished he had a spear. His bow was useless at this range. The thing pulled free, and Jaden knew.
Still. He had to fight. The girl needed time to get away, and every second he fought was a second more that she had to save herself. Jaden grit his teeth, and the thing charged. Its mouth hung open in another roar, and it lifted Jaden up as it slammed into him, snapping at his arms. Jaden kicked and struggled and drove his dagger down, twisting it in the thing’s eye. It let out a guttural cry, and poofed into golden dust.
With one proper strike, the only thing left of the monster was the Spoil of War it left behind. One of its bone white antlers, gleaming in the moonlight. Red dripped slowly down it from where it was embedded in Jaden’s gut. The demigod thumped against the ground as fell, the dirt cold under his skin.
Jaden tried to sit up, and had to bite back a scream. Even with the adrenaline coursing through his veins, that was useless. He was going to die here. It was one of those things he just knew, deep, deep down. Jaden tried to think of his siblings, instead of the inevitable. They’d be sad, but at least they’d know what happened to him. Jaden had given the girl his name for a reason; when she got to camp, they would now. He was glad for that, and he was glad they would know he died for something important.
Jaden smiled, blinking up at the stars. They were so clear here. Brighter than he’d ever seen, and so beautiful. It was cold, and getting colder, but Jaden had never minded a chill. He exhaled, then inhaled.
Exhaled, inhaled.
Exhaled...
~~~
Jaden was surprised to wake up.
There was no harsh light against his eyelids, so it couldn’t have been long since he was knocked out. He yawned, stretching his arms above his head. He wiggled in the grass as he tried to get more comfortable. Pain flared across his body, the movement catching his injuries in all the wrong ways, and Jaden let out a sharp hiss. He pressed his eyes closed tightly, forcing down a whimper. The haze of sleep left him as quickly as flicking on a light, and without it he felt like he had been run over by a truck.
Jaden groaned, and buried his face in the soft grass. His head was pounding, his bruised ribs ached, and he felt like his entire body was throbbing. How wasn’t he dead?
Reluctantly, Jaden reached down. He braced and mentally prepared to deal with whatever degree of injury he found, but his hand never hit the antler he expected. Jaden cracked open his eyelids, squinting down at his stomach. His eyebrows furrowed. Jaden’s fingers found the large hole in his camp shirt, and he pressed experimentally against the skin below.
Jaden sat up, yanking his shirt up. The hole in his stomach was completely gone. Only a scar marked where he’d been stabbed, and even that was smaller than it should have been. Even if he’d had ambrosia, he shouldn’t have been able to heal that fast. He did a quick scan of the rest of his injuries.
What he could see of his torso was mottled with dark purple bruises. He couldn’t help but think of a wine soaked towel. Except that might actually be less discolored - why had he thought it was a good idea to ram his car into a monster? It had worked, but damn, it had hurt. He had definitely bruised his ribs, and if the burning in his ankle was any indication, he’d fractured something. Jaden could taste blood in his teeth, and he knew he had at least a mild concussion.
Maybe that was why it took him so long to notice the distinct lack of wheat around him. Jaden blinked, and then his eyes widened. He was in a field, yes, but he was surrounded by grass and brush. The car was gone. The town was gone. He could see mountains in the distance, instead of the flat plains of the American Midwest. Where the hell was he?