This is a filler chapter... I had to get to this next part and the story and I left a lovely prize for you at the end!
Jason, Piper, and Annabeth had been out, on their own, for a couple weeks time. It was clear there was nothing they could do outside of camp. They were traveling aimlessly trying to find some clues as to how to find and make their way into the Roman camp, but the only way to do that would be if Jason had all of his memories back which was not happening fast enough.
Jason had the utter feeling he should be at camp. He was just starting to get more and more of his memory back and he felt as if the target on his back was growing. He also felt as if he should be helping Leo back at camp. There was so much stuff to do and they had so little time. Leo could use all the help he could get even if Jason could only tighten a few bolts; he would never understand the mechanics of it all.
Piper was stressing about everything. The only way they were able to get anything was if Piper was able to talk them out of her paying. Currently they were sitting in the back of a pickup truck as they made their way through Nevada. They had been staying there most of the time to keep from being found.
At night, they would spend time in their tents, but Piper didn't rest much at all. She couldn't fall asleep due to the fact that Annabeth was talking in her sleep. What really bothered Piper was that she didn't seem to be making random comments on a conversation she was having, she was speaking. She was having a conversation with someone and it was like Piper was listening from outside a phone call.
"Why can't you just leave and come back?" Annabeth had asked one night but she was out like a light. Piper knew it, so she sat and listened. Piper had been up reading a mythology book. She was doing research on the giants. The pages of her book had kept her entertained for such a long time she had missed the beginning of Annabeth's mumblings. "Leave the camp, and then you can tell us where it is."
The pause between the next words made her think that there was actually someone on the other side of her conversation. But, when she spoke again she seemed distraught. "I don't care if you just got your memories. I want you to figure it out and come back… We need you," Piper wanted to cry as she listened. "I need you."
Piper slid into her sleeping bag that night listening to Annabeth cry in her sleep. She felt like she was eavesdropping but she couldn't help it. She would feel tired in the morning but she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep.
The words she spoke made Piper miss the memories of her and Jason together that had begun to fade, though she couldn't seem to get their first kiss out of her head. There were so many details to that night she could remember so clearly. Annabeth had made it perfectly clear to Piper that they were not real. Piper didn't want to believe it though. She wanted that night back. She wanted it to be real.
They climbed out of the truck at a random point in the road where there was no sign of houses for miles. They were staying in the woods that lined Nevada and California. They set up the tents and set a fire fore the night. Annabeth was staying to herself as she flipped through a leather bound book that was written completely in Greek. Piper sat on the opposite side of the fire from her giving Annabeth her space while she read. Jason was up and moving as if he couldn't sit still. He had a dagger in his hand and was flipping the bronze continuously in his palm.
Piper got to her feet having watched him pass for the past hour and stopped him. Jason looked up at her as she took the dagger from his hand gently. Jason started to reach for his sword and Piper held up the dagger to him. "Leave it Jason," he took his hand away and she sighed taking his hand and pulling him from the fire side.
She waited for him to take a moment and then he reached for his sword and stopped Piper from grabbing his hand. He slid the sword from its sheath and dropped the blade on the ground and then took the dagger from Piper throwing down next to the sword. The two watched each other for a moment and Jason's eyes seemed to be alive as if with each memory that came back to him was a piece to the world that was being put back under his feet.
"I'm fine," Jason smiled at her holding out his hands to her. His constant fidgeting seemed to have stopped for the time being. "I'll stop with the blades and stuff. Promise," Jason whispered. His features were shadowed by the flickering fire next to Annabeth a little ways away.
"Good, you need to just relax some; we both need to." Piper admitted running her fingers through her hair nervously. Jason was watching her intently and his gentle stare made her cheeks burn with color that she hoped was hidden by the orange flickering light. Jason leaned toward her and Piper could feel her heart slamming against her chest and she feared he could hear it until he pulled away suddenly. Her heart dropped and she took a step back.
"Chiron, what's wrong?" Annabeth suddenly said and Piper turned away from Jason looking to where Annabeth was staring into an iris message. Chiron looked like he was shaken and couldn't figure out what exactly was going on. "Chiron?" Annabeth was leaning to the side as if she could see around him in the message to his surrounding.
"You need to head to Illinois and meet up with Leo and Clarisse," Chiron said monotonically. Piper came up behind Annabeth and was watching Chiron as intently as Annabeth was. Jason stood behind them all with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Why Chiron? What's happened?" Annabeth demanded.
"You have three days," Chiron said those last four words and then wiped his hand through the message. The mist dissipated into the air and Annabeth stood up immediately grabbing her bag and shoving her book in it. She took a bucket of water we had ready for the night and dumped it over the fire. Piper and Jason moved out of the way of the smoke and steam and tried to get closer to Annabeth who seemed to have taken the energy of the Tasmanian Devil and was flying all over the place taking apart the camp.
"Annabeth, what are you doing?" Piper finally asked standing in front of Annabeth. Jason was standing close by as if he would be ready to stop Annabeth from killing the girl in front of her who had stopped her progress.
"You heard Chiron. We need to get to Illinois. We have to meet with Leo and Clarisse," Annabeth stood tall in front of Piper. She was trying to be bigger. It was just like if she were an animal. If she was bigger she was in charge. Hopefully, once she was in charge of Piper she would have rule over Jason as well but Piper wouldn't back down so easily.
"We have three days; we don't have to rush this much. We need good sleep and then we'll pack up and go." Piper tried to reason with her but Annabeth walked around her and started for the tent pulling out the sleeping bags and then knocking the tents down angrily. Piper grabbed her arm stopping her from yanking at the poles. "Annabeth, calm down. All we're doing is being recalled."
"We're not just being recalled. Do you know how many people have ever been recalled? Zero," Annabeth snapped turning on Piper and knocking her back. Jason stepped forward and Annabeth held up her hand. He froze immediately as if it were a glass wall as Annabeth looked at both of them. "We have been recalled because something happened, and I sure as hell am going to go back and handle whatever it is. I'm not going to sit around and do nothing pretending like we're on a quest.
"I'm tired of sitting around. Percy is gone; that's pretty damn certain for right now, and the gods are choosing to not help us so we have to figure this out. Now, you guys can figure out what you want to do, but I'm going home with or without you. I'm tired of sitting around and I'm going to start by going back and helping with that war ship because we will attack this Roman camp if I have to, but I will get what I want in the end. Understand that." Annabeth grabbed her bag and started to shove things into it endlessly.
Piper moved out of her way standing on the outside of the camp. Jason came toward her and Piper immediately moved away from him shaking her head. Jason couldn't seem to get his head out of the thought he had just almost kissed Piper and then had stopped himself. Reyna was lingering in the back of his mind. All the memories that were coming back made him think of her more but he still liked Piper. So when he got that close to actually kissing Piper he pulled away.
Piper looked at him waiting. She wanted her apology. She wanted him to say something, but when he only looked at his feet standing next to her she walked past him and started to pack up. Annabeth and Piper rolled up the sleeping bags and tents while Jason grabbed the miscellaneous items lying around the camp and shoving them into Piper's bag so that she had the lightest bag.
Silently, they packed up their things no one spoke anymore and then when it came time the hiked up to Reno where they caught a train that would take them all the way to Chicago. All they would have to do was sit and enjoy the ride. They sat in the car with booths. Annabeth and Piper were sitting together while Jason was strewn out across an empty booth falling asleep quickly.
Annabeth had picked up her book as soon as they were inside and started flipping through the pages to find her place. Piper set her bag on the ground and quietly looked forward at the seat in front of her. She looked at Jason every now and then and only felt anger. She couldn't stand that he seemed repulsed by her. He had pulled away as if she had smelled bad. Then Piper looked at Annabeth as she had paused on a page.
"Did you find something?" Piper wondered trying to look at the page though Greek seemed to still swirl in her head meaninglessly. She only understood bits and pieces unfortunately.
"Uh, yea…" Annabeth's voice seemed broken. "I was, um, looking for information on the last half-blood who helped the gods with the Giants and so I was looking at Herakles. I just ran across something I didn't expect." Annabeth started to close the book as Piper made out a few words: son of Poseidon.
"You talk about him, or to him, in your sleep," Piper looked at her hands in her lap not sure if she should admit that she had been listening. "I heard that demigods can form these telepathy links with people that they're close to, do you guys have one? Is he talking to you?" Piper wondered as she was truly curious.
"I wish. I would have some way to get to him then, but no. Those links are very hard to form and we never figured it out." Annabeth looked over at Piper and watched her as she kept looking at Jason and then at her hands. "They're only dreams. I wish they were more, but they aren't." Annabeth took a deep breath letting it fill her up until she sighed it all out her whole body seeming to deflate.
She would never admit that she was jealous of Piper. She hadn't lost anyone that she loved and she never had to worry about what went on with Olympus. To her, it was all still a fantasy other than the Giants. She had no idea of the actuality of it all. Annabeth wished she had the ignorance. On top of that, Annabeth felt like Piper had gotten the guy and Annabeth had had hers yanked away after all those years of being around him and he wouldn't even look at her with that want that she so obviously had for him. But, as she sat next to Piper on the train, she kept her poker face.
As Jason slept, he found he was thinking of Reyna again. Her dark almost black hair and her hazel-gold eyes that just made you think she was superior. He wanted to push her from his mind. He still didn't remember much of Reyna and he had Piper right there with him. He had held Piper when he saved her life. He had almost kissed her earlier, but he felt like that was wrong though he couldn't get past it. Both of them were stuck in his head and his mind was swirling which forced him to wake of from the ongoing nausea it caused him.
He sat up holding his head and looked around the car. Both, Annabeth and Piper, were passed out in different booths with jackets lain over them as blankets. Piper was obviously using her own while Annabeth had on a hoodie she was using to keep warm that was baggy on her and he figured it to be Percy especially because of the way it smelled like the beach.
The train stopped through Salt Lake City, Denver, and Omaha before it found Chicago. The whole train ride was a blur of napping and reading. They were trying to find out what was going on. Annabeth had even handed a Latin book to Jason at one point and ordered him to start reading to try and find some clues as to how they could hide a camp like they were.
When they did pull into Chicago, they were well rested and ready to find Clarisse. Annabeth pulled out a phone and Piper stopped her staring at her like she was crazy. "Didn't you say that's like sending up a flare to the monsters?"
"Yea," Annabeth rolled her eyes putting the phone away. "Fine, I'll IM Clarisse. We'll find a rendezvous point." Annabeth walked off flipping a golden drachma in between her fingers.
Jason and Piper were left alone in the train station while Annabeth disappeared into the near by bathroom. Jason was going to say something and Piper sighed as if his words that hadn't even come out yet were annoying her. He fell silent feeling like that awkward twelve year-old with his first crush.
"Piper," he finally got out her name, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that back there. It wasn't right to lead you on like that and then just bail." Damn straight, Piper thought in reaction immediately. "You're just…intimidating sometimes. You're so strong in everything you believe. That's why you cut your own hair and all that. I just, I got—,"
"Intimidated?" Piper guessed looking up at Jason with a cocked eyebrow. She butted shoulders with him and smiled feeling like she could relax now and stop being so mad at him. She just wanted to have Jason and not have to ignore him.
They had a light hearted conversation as Annabeth continued to stay gone. They were able to laugh and be normal for once calming themselves down. When Annabeth came out she grabbed them both by their backpacks and dragged them toward the doors of the train station. She looked even more tense than she had on the train and both, Jason and Piper, were perfectly quiet in fear of her as they climbed in a cab. She gave the address to where they were meeting Clarisse and Leo.
The care didn't seem to drive fast enough for Annabeth who was fidgeting and wringing her hands. Piper scooted away from her as much as possible so that she wasn't touching her but leaning against Jason. When Jason moved to get more comfortable in their close quarters, he accidently brushed Piper's leg and Piper's face began to burn red.
When they got to the address they all piled out. They stood in front of large stark white building that looked to be an art museum. Leo and Clarisse were waiting outside basking in the sun. Clarisse pushed off the wall when she saw Annabeth and immediately pulled her inside. Leo walked up to Piper and Jason looking at them sadly.
"Hey Leo, what's up with the recall? We don't understand." Piper asked hugging him tightly. She realized she had missed Leo no matter how annoying he was. He was like her stupid little brother that would scream at the top of his lungs, but then when the noise was gone she was lonely in its absence.
"I need to talk to you guys, let's head inside." Leo turned away from the both of them and they looked at each other in shock. This was not the Leo they were used to, so of course, they ran after him to get the answers they were so curious to find now.
After fifteen minutes of an explanation that seemed to last hours, Piper had to sit down. Jason crossed his arms over his chest shaking his head. He put a hand on Piper's shoulder letting her lean toward him for comfort. Leo sat down next to Piper patting her knee. Annabeth came and found them. Her eyes were red, but her face was stern. Clarisse was close behind her.
"We're going to get as far as we can from here today. We'll keep traveling until we make it back to camp," Annabeth informed everyone and they just nodded. Fear, pain, and anger mixed in a vicious brew that would carry them on their way back home. They could sleep when they were dead which might come sooner than any one of them wanted o expected.
So they carried on. For the rest of that day, they were walking and then were able to snag a short bus ride farther toward camp. The had only made it half way through Ohio at that point and were forced to camp for the night by Leo who had burned out his energy at Camp Half-Blood before leaving to find the other three. Clarisse and Leo were out in a matter of moments.
Sooner or later everyone else crawled into bed. They slept with what peace of mind they could muster. Piper didn't sleep. She listened to Annabeth talk in her sleep to this dream Percy she had. She listened to Annabeth cry as Annabeth told Percy what had happened to the camp, to their safe haven. Soon Piper was crying as well. Jason dreamt of Reyna and tried to push her from his mind once more then chose to ignore her altogether.
The next day they carried on. They doused the fire and left going toward Pennsylvania. The hiked the mountains trying to stay away from main roads. Clarisse had told Annabeth about how she thought that they wouldn't just take down the camps whoever had attacked, but they'd be looking for the rest of the half-bloods as well. Annabeth agreed and so they wasted time in the foothills.
They camped that night in the woods in a small clearing where they were able to see the stars. They had ditched their tents at the last campsite and simply slept under the sky. Jason, Leo, and Piper all slept with their heads near each others so that they could speak as the looked at the twinkling lights in the dark blue sky.
"I wonder if they ever listened before their voices disappeared." Leo had admitted as if he were ashamed to think so little of his father. Piper agreed almost immediately feeling as if she too had been ignored by her godly parent her whole life.
"They listen," Jason assured them and reached for Piper's hand where he twined their fingers together like they had been when he had woken up on the bus. "They listen. They reward a hero. They're up there."
"But, they aren't there for us now, and now is when we need them…" Piper muttered and squeezed Jason's hand.
"Hera was there wasn't she?" Jason pointed out and Leo scoffed at him.
"She was there because she got kidnapped and needed us to save her." Leo realized that seemed to hurt Jason and immediately fell silent. Jason was supposed to be Hera's hero and no matter what people thought of Hera, Jason liked the sound of a goddess needing him.
No one said much after that. Annabeth could not be heard for the night and Piper was able to sleep. Leo was out soon too along with Jason and Clarisse. The quiet of night was peaceful and they all lost track of their surroundings in their dreams.
In the middle of the night, a girl snuck into the clearing. The smoldering flames barely lit her features though that wouldn't do much good to make out who she was. Her features were continuing to change at a rapid pace. She never stayed the same and a boy followed behind her. He had dark hair and dark eyes. A skull ring was place on his hand that was rest on the hilt of his Stygian iron blade. His eyes were glazed over as if he was only seeing what he wanted and nothing else.
"Nico," the girl hissed, "kill the fire. We'll greet our friends with darkness." She walked up to the boy and kissed Nico gently. Immediately, he put out the fire and the camp was taken down by the shadows of the trees. The siren picked the minds of the new pawns in the game. Enkelados had been right when he sent her here…this would be fun.
It's a cliffhanger!
Sincerely,
wisegirlindisguise