This is the fifth story in my series but this is only the second one I have posted as this doesn't reveal much that you won't already know since my first book is still on chapter 10 when I publish this chapter. So Please read.
Disclaimer (for whole story): Most of the beginning of the story is the same as the actual "The lost Hero" but I am not Rick Riordan and I don't own the basic plot and characters that aren't mine.
Chapter 1
Even before I got electrocuted, I was having a rubbish day.
I woke up in the back seat of a school bus, having no clue where I was, sitting next to an amazing looking girl holding hands with another guy he had also just woken up. The girl was cute, but I couldn't figure out who she was or what I was doing there. The guy was just rubbing his eyes.
A few dozen kids were sprawled in the seats in front of me, listening to iPods, talking or sleeping. They all looked around sixteen? Seventeen? This is scary. I don't even know my own age.
The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out of the windows a desert rolled by under a clear blue sky. I was pretty sure I didn't live in a desert.
I was deep in thought, when the girl next to me asked "Jason are you ok?"
She wore faded jeans, hiking boots and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate-brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it wasn't working as the guy next to her, who I presume was Jason, was staring at her but I dint think she looked that good. Her eyes seemed to change colour just like a kaleidoscope – brown, blue and green.
The guy let go of her hand. "Um, I don't –"
In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"
The guy was obviously a coach. His baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something mouldy. His buff arms and cheats pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. His nylon workout pants and Nikes were spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt he would of looked more scary if he hadn't been five foot zero. When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"
"I heard that!" The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason, and his scowl deepened. Then his eyes fixed on me. A jolt went down my spine. I was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call me out, demand to know why I was here and I wouldn't know what to say. But he just looked away and cleared his throat.
"We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partners. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause me any trouble on this trip I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."
He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.
Jason looked at the girl next to him. "Can he talk to us that way?"
She shrugged "Always does. This is the wilderness school. "Where the kids are the animals.""
She said it like they all had shared the joke before.
"This is some kind of mistake," Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."
"Me neither" I said. We both looked at each other weirdly.
A boy in front of us turned and laughed. "Yeah right you guys. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW."
The girl, Piper, blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"
"Oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You "talked" the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eye brows at me like, can you believe her?
Leo looked like a Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face and a mischievous smile that told you this guy should not be trusted with a Taser. His long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving – drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. Either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.
"Anyway Jason," Leo said, "I hope you've got you worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago. Why are you guys looking at me like that? Someone draw on my face again?"
"I don't know you," Jason said.
"Me neither," I said.
Leo gave him a crocodile grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone."
"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"
Leo winked at us. "Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone please?"
Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared "the cow says moo!"
The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"
Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo. How did you do that?"
Leo slipped a tiny Phillips-head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."
"Guys, seriously," I pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"
"I've got the same problem" Jason said.
Piper knitted her eyebrows. "Are you guys joking?"
"Aw, yeah, there joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"
We both starred at him blankly.
"No I think they are serious." Piper tried to take Jason's hand again, but he pulled away.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't – I can't -"
"This is annoying" I almost yelled.
"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"
The rest of the Kids cheered.
"There's a shocker," Leo muttered.
But Piper kept her eyes on Jason, like she couldn't decide whether to be hurt or worried. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know
who we are?"
Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."
"But at least you know your name." I complained.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The bus dropped us in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. A cold wind blew across the desert. I hadn't paid much attention to what he was wearing, but it was
warm enough: jeans and sneakers, a blue T-shirt, and a thin black jumper.
"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made me think this was not going to be helpful. "We go to the 'Wilderness
School'"-Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much
trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison-sorry, 'boarding school'-in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten
miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps
order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"
"No." Jason and I said at the same time. I glanced at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but I
wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.
Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the four of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do
everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores-"
"Leo!" Piper snapped.
"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks-"
"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason's face was red too.
"What about me?" I asked.
"Well you don't really do much. I mean you do a lot like keep the bullies away from us and you are the top of the class in every subject. You are also the best sportsman in the whole school." Leo explained.
"I still don't remember" I said.
"they've got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."
Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix them by whacking them upside the head."
The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at me and Jason
and scowl.
"Leo, they needs help," Piper insisted. "they have a concussion or-"
"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between
Jason and Piper and knocked Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"
The new guy had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth white as chalk but a lot more shinny. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile
delinquent girls everywhere. I hated him instantly.
"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."
"Piper do you want me to get rid of the garbage" I asked pointing to Dylan.
"Yes please" she replied. I faced Dylan and cracked my knuckles. I stared into Dylan's eyes and he visibly cowered.
"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day! But i will just get another girl" He practically yelled then walked off.
Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside together. "'I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I
want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'" I laughed.
"Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."
"Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on!"
"I gota hear these" I said as I followed them in.
I figured that if this were my best friends, my life must be pretty messed up; but Piper followed us into the museum.
We walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like
a Sith Lord or blared out random comments like "The pig says oink."
Leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, like he had to keep his hands busy
at all times.
Jason looked too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits, but I saw they were about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, which owned the
museum.
Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Jason and snickering. I figured these girls were the popular clique. They wore matching jeans and
pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.
One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"
The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan, who was at the front while we were at the back, suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but I
got the feeling she was clenching her fists.
"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai.'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."
Isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's
right. You never knew your mom."
Piper charged her, but before a fight could start, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"
The group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but the girls kept calling out little comments to Piper.
"Good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice.
"Dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy. "That's why she turned klepto."
Piper ignored them, but I was ready to punch them himself. He might not remember Piper, or even who he was, but he knew he hated mean
kids.
Leo caught his arm. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing
down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"
"Why? What about her dad?" me and Jason asked.
Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad-"
"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad."
Leo whistled. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back to the dorm."
They reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace.
"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of
seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me
extra paperwork."
The coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was
a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.
"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."
I had to agree. Despite his amnesia and his feeling that I didn't belong there, I couldn't help being impressed.
The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred
feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces
across the cliffs. As far as I could see in any direction, red and grey ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.
I got a piercing pain behind my eyes. Crazy gods ... Where had I come up with that idea? I felt like he'd gotten close to something
important-something I should know about. I also got the unmistakable feeling I was in danger.
"You all right?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera." I thought he was talking to me but then I saw Jason he looked like he was going to be sick.
Jason grabbed the railing. He was shivering and sweaty, but I think it had nothing to do with heights. I blinked, and the pain behind my eyes subsided.
"I'm fine," he managed. "Just a headache."
Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked him sideways.
"This can't be safe." Leo squinted at the clouds. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"
I looked up and saw Leo was right. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was
perfectly clear. Jason had a bad feeling about that.
"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work!
Remember, complete sentences!"
The storm rumbled, and my head began to hurt again. Not knowing why I did it, I reached into my jeans pocket and brought out a sphere-a
circle of light blue metal the size of a marble.
"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked. "You been holding out on me!" I looked over at Jason and he had a coin-a
circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. Stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-ax. On the other was some guy's face
wreathed in laurels. The inscription said something like ivlivs.
Jason put the coin away, and i put my thing away wondering how I had come to have it, and why I had the feeling I was going to need it soon.
"It's nothing," Jason said. "Just a coin."
Leo shrugged. Maybe his mind had to keep moving as much as his hands. "Come on," he said. "Dare you to spit over the edge." I looked at him and smiled "Yea!"
The three of them didn't try very hard on the worksheet. For one thing, I was too distracted by the storm and my own mixed-up feelings. For another thing, I
didn't have any idea how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."
Leo was no help. He was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners.
"Check it out." He launched the copter. I figured it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. The little copter made it halfway
across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiralled into the void.
"How'd you do that?" Jason asked.
Leo shrugged. "Would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."
"Seriously," Jason said, "are we friends?"
"Last I checked."
"What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?" I asked
"It was ..." Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."
"But I don't remember you at all. I don't remember anyone here. What if-" I said
"You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?"
A little voice in my head said, That's exactly what I think.
But it sounded crazy. Everybody here took him for granted. Everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class-except for Coach Hedge.
"Take the worksheet." Jason handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."
"I'll come with you." I said.
Before Leo could protest, me and Jason headed across the skywalk.
Their school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. The
Wilderness School kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over
the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet. when she saw Jason she waved at him and smiled lovingly.
Jason waved back. We walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.
"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.
Jason took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if Jason made the thunderstorm.
Coach Hedge glared at him, his beady little eyes glinting under the brim of his cap. "Don't play games with me, kid. What are you doing here, and
why are you messing up my job?"
"You mean...you don't know me?" I said. "I'm not one of your students?"
Hedge snorted. "Never seen you two before today."
I was so relieved he almost wanted to cry. At least he wasn't going insane. He was in the wrong place. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I
just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here." I said.
"Got that right." He turned to Jason then Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kids, if you can make all
these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a
monster. You smell like a half-blood," he then turned to me and said "But you, you smell like a god. So-who are you, and where'd you come from?"
Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Jason decided to answer. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've
got to help me."
"Me too" I said.
Coach Hedge studied his face like was trying to read Jason's thoughts.
"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."
"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"
Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of me wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.
"Look, kids," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect four of you rather than two.
Are you the special package? Is that it?"
"What are you talking about?"
Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk.
"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package,
but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can
smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special
package? They did only mention one but you two could be the special package"
The pain behind my eyes got worse than ever. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. I still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words
gave him a massive brain freeze-like his mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.
He stayed standing but Jason stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories,
huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."
"What director?" Jason said. "What camp?"
"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before-"
Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids
screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.
"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"
"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.
"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"