Suspicion
Jason thought he was being a little bit too harsh at that counselor's meeting. He didn't mean to let his temper run wild, but the idea of someone running around with his bolt angered him to no end. It was one of the only gifts he got from his dad, he had every right to be angry. He'd never stolen anyone else's stuff, so why steal his things?
Jason was in his room in cabin one. His room had a perfect view of cabin three. He could see the low dark building, and he'd been watching it for hours now. He had seen Percy and Annabeth both enter cabin three, and Jason didn't miss the fact that Annabeth checked to make sure they weren't being watched before walking in after Percy.
Piper was off gathering allies, so Jason was alone. He knew he was outnumbered. Percy was far more well-known at Camp Half-blood than he was. If this was taking place at Camp Jupiter, things would be different.
Jason watched the windows of cabin three. He could see Percy sitting on his bed while Annabeth was talking to him. Jason knew he shouldn't listen in on their conversation, but he couldn't help himself.
Getting to his feet, Jason walked out of his room and out of cabin one. He looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched by any of Percy's many allies. From what it seemed like, the only people who were out were too busy training to pay him any attention.
That gave Jason the freedom to do what he needed to do. He walked casually towards cabin three. As soon as he got close enough, he sprinted behind a bush and pressed his ear against the wall of the cabin.
Normally, the average person wouldn't be able to hear anything through the walls of any cabin. Jason Grace was anything but average. Lupa had thought him to heighten his senses, which included his hearing. He had ears like a elephant, barely anything ever got past him. Well, except for the person who stole his bolt.
"We need to hide it." Annabeth's muffled voice said.
"But where? Jason is going to be looking everywhere for it." Percy replied.
That alone made Jason's face turn red. How dare Percy say he never stole the bolt? What could he possibly be hiding that Jason was looking for that wasn't his bolt? Jason's hands shook and his knees started to feel weak. Out of all the people, Percy was one of the last people he'd expect to steal from him.
Jason didn't stick around to hear the rest of the conversation. He'd heard enough. He got up from where he was hiding and started walking back to his cabin. Then it hit Jason. He didn't record what he just heard, and no one would believe him.
"Damn." Jason cursed under his breath.
Just as Jason started making his way towards his cabin, he noticed Piper walking towards him. As soon as she reached him, he said, "Please tell me you have good news."
"I do." She said, "But not out here. Let's go to your cabin."
Jason nodded and walked over to the front door of cabin one. He opened it and beckoned Piper inside. He walked in after her and shut the door. He wanted to hear what Piper had to say first before he told her what he'd just heard.
"So, I managed to get a few minor cabins like the Hypnos cabin on our side. Leo and Pollux said they're on our team." Piper said.
"Hypnos? They sleep all the time, but oh well. We need all the help we can get." Jason said.
"It's tough getting help, Jason." Piper said, "The only people who we have a chance with getting help from are the newer kids. Pollux is only willing to help because Percy pranked him a few months back and he's been bitter ever since."
"Well, I just learned something." Jason said, "No one will believe it."
"What is it?" Piper asked.
"I heard Annabeth and Percy talking in his cabin. Annabeth was telling him that they needed to hide something, something that I'm apparently looking all over the place for." Jason said.
Piper's face lit up. She smiled, "So we were right, they stole it."
"What else would they be hiding?" Jason asked.
Piper shrugged.
"The only thing I don't understand is, why? Why would Percy do this? He could've just asked me, and I would've let him borrow it." Jason said.
Piper put a finger on her chin and started thinking. Then she said, "Maybe for a prank?"
"Maybe." Jason said, "But there's another reason that I've been thinking of. We don't know what happened to them down in Tartarus. What if it changed them? What if this is their way of getting back at me for not being able to help them?"
Piper laid a hand on his cheek, "I doubt it's that. If Percy blamed you for that, he would've tried to kill you way earlier. Same with Annabeth. You might be right that they changed. No one can go to Tartarus and come out the same, but at the end of the day, they're still our friends."
Jason looked over at the statue of his dad. He knew Percy and Zeus never got along. That usually led to some disrespect but nothing like this. Jason was smart enough to know there was some rivalry between him and Percy. They'd nearly killed each other when they were possessed, and they both almost fought over the head chair on the Argo II.
"What do we do now, then?" Piper asked.
It was quite obvious that Percy and Annabeth were making moves. Jason had no idea what those two had in their cards, but he didn't like it. Poseidon and Athena working together was a downright lethal combination. If Jason was going to go head-to-head with them, he was going to need to find something that would put the hurt on one of them.
Then Jason got a idea. "Why don't we steal Percy's trident then? I mean, maybe we can do a trade and then everyone should be happy." Jason said.
Piper smiled, "That's a good idea. Just make sure to give it back though at the end."
"Well, we can't do it now, not while they're in there." Jason said.
"I can always charm speak them." Piper proposed.
Jason scoffed, "And get killed by Annabeth? You saw what went down in the rec room, we're lucky Annabeth didn't hop over the table and try to kill you."
"Annabeth's my friend, she wouldn't do that." Piper said while dismissing him with her hand.
"Right." Jason deadpanned, "Anyways, I'm thinking that we can sneak into Percy's cabin just after dinner. They'll be at the campfire, right?"
"I can convince them to go." Piper said.
"Good."
A/N (I see someone reviewed this story. I'd like to address some of the points made. Firstly, i wouldn't include a swear on the Styx, mainly because that would lead to no story at all. Also, i should've made it clear that this story is shifting back and forth by chapter from Percy's perspective to Jason's, so some characters may seem bad or act evil, but i wrote them that way specifically because of the character's perspective.)
