Chapter 39 - Jason Has News

The weeks dragged on as I healed. I worked on small projects for the Argo II - designing and stocking the infirmary, helping Leo work out his plans (preferably before they exploded), making schedules for what cabins were working on what and when. Will taught me more advanced first aid - starting and managing IVs, using more advanced mortal medicines, what to do about really bad wounds. I sat on the sidelines as Clarisse and Jason worked with Piper's charmspeak. Clarisse was not easy on her and I had plenty of time to practice my first aid on Piper after each session. Each day I was at Camp I worked with Clovis on entering other dreams. I also learned how to leave a dream on my terms, which was good. I'd sometimes end up in dream situations that I did NOT want to be in. In case you're wondering, Mrs. O'Leary dreams of Percy throwing shields for her to fetch and playing with Cerberus. Piper has more nightmares than I do. Leo often dreams up new ideas for the Argo II. Tyson dreams of a lot of the good memories of Percy and his other friends. Clarisse dreams of stabbing a lot of people (some people I knew, some I didn't), oh, and going to college next year. Conner and Travis's dreams - oh boy, I won't even start on those.

And me? I stuck to my promise. I didn't go out on any more solo attempts to find Percy. I held on to Rachel's vision, Percy and me aboard the Argo II, and set my focus to making the ship work.

It was the first Friday in April and I had barely touched down in Camp, offering Blackjack a donut, when Grover found me.

"Annabeth! Thank goodness! There's a war meeting happening in the Big House in just a few minutes. You need to be there."

I frowned at him. "What happened?"

He shrugged. "Not really sure. Jason had a long meeting with Chiron this morning and they asked that all the counselors be there. And me, and Rachel. They said we'd start as soon as Rachel gets here."

Grover caught me up on all the happenings at Camp this week as we walked to the Big House - Jess managed to win a throwing axe contest, which made me proud of her. Livy successfully turned Travis Stoll into a pig and back again. Milo had made it to the top of the climbing wall without getting scorched. Maya and my other siblings had been hard at work on researching Giants.

I walked into the chaos of the Big House rec room and took a chair next to Piper.

"Any idea what's going on?" I asked her.

She looked troubled. "Jason remembered where the Roman camp is."

My heart thudded. "The exact location? Like how to get there and everything?"

She shrugged. "Not sure. That's all I know. Sorry, I know you probably want more information than that."

Jason came in at that moment. I locked my eyes on him and he took a step back. I wasn't sure what he saw in my expression. What I wanted to do was lung across the table and press my forearm against his throat until he told me where Percy was. But I held myself back because A) Jason was my friend and he had only ever been nice to me and B) that was the action of a total lunatic, which I was trying to convince myself I was not. Still, I noticed he selected a seat that would be difficult for me to reach, rather than the one right next to Piper.

I ground my teeth during the long moments until Chiron and Rachel arrived. Clarisse gripped my shoulder as she went to her seat. "Easy, girl." She muttered.

Chiron glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. I got his message loud and clear - back off.

I sat back in my seat, trying to calm myself down. Rachel ended up taking the seat next to Piper. Rachel's seen me mad and it doesn't seem to scare her as much as other people.

Chiron stamped his hoof. "Alright, everyone. Please calm down. Someone wake up Clovis - Lou Ellen, without turning him into something I mean. Jason has some news."

Jason sat forward. "I-I remembered where the Roman camp is."

Murmuring broke out through the group. Jason waited for quiet. "It's…. So there are many entrances. It's in California, like we thought. Uh, there's an entrance in the Caldecott tunnel -"

"That's why you were so interested in it!" Piper gasped.

Jason turned red and nodded. "Yeah. We saw it on our quest, when we were in the helicopter." He explained to the rest of us. "But I didn't know why it was important."

I looked at Chiron. "I know the ship isn't ready, but could we send a small scouting party -"

"No." To my surprise, it was Rachel who spoke up. She looked at me. "Annabeth, I've seen several possible futures in front of me. One of them, we sent a small party of demigods to try to reach the Romans. Percy wasn't there, and in that future, you, Percy, Piper, Jason and Leo all die."

Silence filled the room.

"Is there an alternate future?" Leo asked, in a mix of horror and pleading.

Rachel grinned at him. "Several. There's one future where Annabeth goes alone -"

Chiron glared at me.

"I haven't done anything yet!" I protested.

"Annabeth, that future also leads to you not finding Percy. Oh, and the Romans decide to torture you until you tell them where Camp is." She looked at me amused. "You don't tell them. Apparently, you're used to torture?"

Everyone turned to stare at me. I blushed and looked at the table. I hadn't told anyone what had happened on Mount Tam and I wasn't about to now.

"Is there a third option?" Jason asked, looking alarmed.

Rachel nodded. "Like I said, lots of options. But I'll tell you this - if you want it to be successful, if you want to find Percy -" she looked at me and held my gaze, "then the Argo II needs to be completed. You've got to travel there on the Argo II."

Silence filled the room. We all turned to look at Leo.

"Uh, yeah, the ship should be ready by summer. Like, July, maybe."

Chiron shook his head. "You need to go sooner, my boy. The summer solstice at the latest."

Leo swallowed. "We'll try our best."

I looked at Rachel. "If we don't contact the Romans until the ship is built, I'll find Percy and everyone lives?"

"I see you, Percy, Leo, Piper and Jason in a meeting with the Romans. You are all alive at that point." Rachel said. "After that…. I can't say."

"Can't or won't?" I challenged her.

She shrugged. "That's another crossroads. It'll depend on what you all do."

Silence filled the room. "Ok." Chiron said. "Then our top priority is finishing the ship. Anyone who can be of use will be taken off normal activities and put on building the Argo II. Leo, any other supplies you need?"

He let out a sigh. "A lot."

Chiron nodded. "Make a list. We'll send out teams to gather whatever you need." He looked around. "This meeting is adjourned. Let's go get dinner."

After dinner, I went to find Lou Ellen. She opened the door, looking confused.

"Annabeth, wh-"

"Can you help look for Percy? Magically. Now that we know where he is."

She nodded and looked in at her cabin mates. I saw Livy talking to her siblings.

"Alright, gang, let's find a son of Poseidon."

Despite Lou Ellen's happy declaration, they weren't able to find Percy anywhere. No where in California, no where in the United States. As I left, dejected, Lou Ellen shook her head and explained,

"It's like he doesn't exist right now."

With that punch in the heart I went back to my cabin. I realized I was no where near able to sleep, I was too frustrated. I marched back out and saw Clarisse in the middle of the green. Her arms were crossed over her chest.

"You healed?"

I shrugged. "Don't know."

She glared at me then pointed to the Apollo cabin. "Get checked out. Then meet me in the arena."

I went to find Will. He examined me and informed me that I was not entirely healed. I was well enough to start light work on the Argo II, but not to fight Clarisse. I still went to find her.

She raised her eyebrows at me and I shook my head. "No. Will said no combat."

She shrugged. "Then scream."

"What?"

"Scream. You've got enough anger, you need to -"

I screamed.

She glared at me. "Is that it? Come on."

After a session of screaming with Clarisse (which was both weird and fun) I felt light enough to go back to my cabin.

In the morning, I remembered something. I had ordered a surprise for Jason and had Clarisse, Piper, Leo, and Nyssa come with me to get it. We carried the large boxes into his cabin while he was out. The others left as I started opening the boxes.

Jason walked in, his hair wet from the shower and, seeing the new supplies, remarked, "Annabeth, uh, should I be afraid? What's -"

I tapped the label on the box. "Ikea. I'm not in a good state to build you a full bed from scratch, but this stuff should work well. I measured the alcove. This one should fit perfectly. You can still feel close to Thalia, but have an actual bed, Jason."

He grinned at me. "Thanks! That's actually really nice."

As we worked, I asked Jason more about his old life, whatever he was willing to share with me. He was talking about some of his friends from his cohort when he mention a name that grabbed my attention -

Nico di Angelo.

"Wait, what?"

He looked puzzled. "This guy, Nico. He's sorta creepy. He's the son of Pluto, doesn't stick around camp that much. He just showed up one day, said he's the ambassador to Pluto."

I tried to get my mouth to work. So Nico HAD been intentionally avoiding my Iris messages.

"And you're sure he said his name was Nico di Angelo?"

"Uh, yeah, why -"

"Percy and I were the ones who found Nico originally, told him he was a half-blood. He's kinda got a…. Complicated history with Percy. He blamed Percy for his sister's death."

Now it was Jason's turn to look confused. "Wait, so the guy….. He came from Camp Half-Blood?"

I shook my head. "Not officially. He never told any of us about the Roman camp. But he said he'd go looking for Percy and….." I growled. "He stopped answering my calls when I told him about you and your quest in December."

Jason sat back and whistled. "So he realized he was about to be found out. Is he dangerous?"

"Very. But typically not to me or Percy anymore. We've made our peace with him." I looked at the half-made bed. "Could you give me a minute? I want to go try an Iris message again."

"I'm coming too."

We tried, and failed, to reach Nico di Angelo. Finally, I sighed. "Nico's always been a loner. We've tried to get him to stick around Camp, but he's run away each time. We'll just have to wait for the guy to pop back up somewhere."

Jason looked troubled. "What do you think he wanted? How did he find the Roman camp?"

I thought about that. "It's most likely he found some Roman demigods in the Underworld. Nico lives part of the year with his dad. He probably found some guys in purple shirts like yours and the arm tattoos in Elysium and talked to them about it."

Jason nodded, still looking troubled. "If we can't do anything else, should we head back to the Ikea furniture?"

Together, we got back to work, a Greek and a Roman, working together to combat the perils of assembling Swedish furniture.