Camp Jupiter Reads The Lost Hero:
Disclaimer
The campers of Camp Jupiter read the book The Lost Hero together. No gods, time travelers, campers from Camp Half Blood. Only Roman demigods. No Jason either.
Has to be after Jason disappears and before they know what happened.
Jason and Reyna have a brother-sister relationship and have never been romantically involved, and neither has any desire to be so either.
Chapter below is a suggestion only and you can discard/change it as you like within the parameters I have already written above. My children of Minerva, for example, aren't canon.
Please PM me if you are taking this challenge up.
"Hazel Levesque," called Reyna, ending the roll call.
"Present," Hazel said.
"Colors!" Octavian called.
The standard-bearers stepped forward, wearing the usual lion-skin capes. After Jacob (a son of Arcus, the rainbow goddess) presented his standard, Reyna said, "There are no announcements today, so let us proceed to dinner immediately."
0-0-0
As they were sitting down at the dinner tables, a bright light suddenly blinded them, and when it abated, a book appeared where before there had been an empty space.
Every one stared at it, until Reyna walked forward and picked it up. As she did so, a note fell out of the front flap. She bent down to read it.
She read it to herself, and her eyes became as wide as saucers. She read it again and again, her eyes flying across the small piece of paper.
There was only a tense silence, until Octavian, fed up, snapped, "What does it say, praetor?"
Reyna jumped. Apparently, she had forgotten she was not alone. This unsettled the Romans, as Reyna was always very aware of her surroundings.
"I'll read it out loud. Dear camp Jupiter, we have given you this book, The Lost Hero, to read, so that you will be able to prepare accordingly for war, and also because you are too worried about your second praetor, Jason Grace to do anything. This book will inform you of what he is doing and where he is. We warn you, do not try to change anything. It will work itself out.
"Sincerely, the Fates." She finished reading and looked up.
Everyone was shocked – an actual book about Jason. The note was very accurate; they were much too worried about him, too worried to train properly.
"Well, shall we read it?" asked Gwen, centurion of the fifth cohort.
Forgetting how a Roman behaves for an instant, they all cheered.
Reyna opened the first page and began.
Jason I,read Reyna.
Even before he got electrocuted, Jason was having a rotten day.
"What?" "Jason can't be electrocuted!" "When was this?" people were whispering to their friends, they could not believe that Jason was actually electrocuted.
"If you will let me continue, we will get answers sooner." Reyna was already annoyed and even the newest demigod – Frank Zhang, who was on his third day – knew that that was to be avoided at all costs.
He woke in the backseat of a school bus, not sure where he was, holding hands with a girl he didn't know.
"Oooh! A girl, at last! Congratulations, Jason!" The children of Venus (and Mercury, mockingly) said.
"Will you be quiet! I haven't gone through half a page and we've already been here five minutes!" Reyna said sharply, although she was secretly happy for her fellow praetor, as well. Most of the people at camp didn't understand their relationship. Most thought it had been a matter of time until they became a couple, but they were really more like siblings than potential boyfriend/ girlfriend.
Everyone quieted down immediately. "Thank you," she said tersely.
The girl was cute,
Anyone who wanted to comment restrained him- or herself.
but he couldn't figure out who she was or what he was doing there.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, trying to think.
The sons and daughters of Mercury couldn't help themselves; it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. "Don't hurt yourself now, Jason!"
Some laughed at the comment, most at least smiled. Reyna pursed her lips, wanting to know if Jason was hurt, but she didn't say anything.
A few dozen kids sprawled in the seats in front of him,
"How can you sprawl in a seat on a bus?" asked a son of Ceres, puzzled.
"I don't know, but that's what it says, Daniel." Someone answered him. Daniel shrugged.
listening to iPods, talking or sleeping. They all looked around his age…fifteen? Sixteen? Okay, that was scary. He didn't know his own age.
They looked at each other in confusion and alarm. "He has amnesia or something, maybe?" Suggested a son of Minerva. Everyone agreed, albeit reluctantly, that that was the most logical of explanations, but they really didn't like the implications that Jason forgot them.
"You're fifteen, Jay." Reyna said softly after a while, not even concerned she was talking to a book, or that she called Jason the nickname she hadn't used in years. No one commented.
The bus rumbled down a bumpy road. Out the windows, desert rolled by under a bright blue sky.
"Rhyme time!" called out a son of Apollo, who blushed when everyone turned to look at him.
Jason was pretty sure he didn't live in the desert.
The desert…here was a clue as to where he was, Reyna thought.
He tried to think back…the last thing he remembered…
"Why did you stop? Go on!" the Romans urged their praetor. They wanted to know exactly how much their other leader didn't remember.
Reyna sighed. "It doesn't say," she said sadly.
The girl squeezed his hand. "Jason, you okay?"
She wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven,
"Okaaay," said a few campers. "Why would anyone want their hair to be choppy and uneven?" No one answered.
with thin strands braided down the sides. She wore no make-up,
"Oh, the horror!" wailed some children of Venus.
like she was trying not to draw attention to herself; but it didn't work.
"Awww," cooed all the girls at camp - aside from Reyna, of course.
She was seriously pretty.
Everyone cooed again, and Reyna, at the end of her patience, snapped, "Stop commenting! We'll never get through the book like this!" They all quieted down.
Her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope—brown, blue, and green.
Cool, lots of people thought, but didn't dare say it out loud, in face of Reyna's ire.
Jason let go of her hand. "Um, I don't—"
"Very smooth, Jason," whispered Naomi, daughter of Bacchus, but low enough that Reyna didn't hear her.
In the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"
There was no one there, that was not trying to suppress his or her laughter, and soon the dam broke, and everyone was rolling on the floor laughing, not paying the slightest attention to Vitellius or any of the other Lares, who shouted at them to regain composure and act like Romans.
They weren't sure why they were laughing so hard, it wasn't that funny, but they had been so worried about the son of Jupiter, that now that they had information, they realized exactly how tense they had been.
Ten minutes later, they were calm again, and Reyna was reading.
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 moldy. His buff arms and chest 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've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero.
Many of the more vain demigods wrinkled their noses, and more than a few said, with sarcasm dripping from their words, "handsome."
When he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "stand up, Coach Hedge!"
"Nice one!" called out Christina, a daughter of Mercury.
"I heard that!"
"He was supposed to hear that," a son of Vulcan said.
The coach scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Jason, and his scowl deepened.
"Hey!" many soldiers of the Fifth Cohort yelled protectively.
A jolt went down Jason's spine.
They shuddered. They knew nothing good would come of this.
He was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. He was going to call Jason out, demand what he was doing on the bus—and Jason wouldn't have a clue what to say.
The Romans looked at each other in stunned silence. One of the things that made Jason who he was, was his ability to always have a cheeky response ready whenever someone said anything.
It was a rude awakening for those of them that forgot that Jason didn't remember them or his life at Camp Jupiter.
But Coach Hedge looked away and cleared his throat.
They let out a breath.
"We'll arrive in five minutes!
"Where?" a few of them wondered aloud.
Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."
"What's the hard way?" asked a nine-year-old son of Apollo named Michael.
"The hard way," answered Eric, a son of Mars, with a nasty grin, "is something you don't want to know."
Michael shuddered.
He picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.
Josh, another son of Mars, said, "That is the hard way." A few of the more gentle campers swallowed.
Jason looked at the girl next to him. "Can he talk to us that way?"
"That's what I want to know!" said Bobby, Jason's best friend.
She shrugged. "Always does. This is the wilderness school. 'Where kids are the animals'."
She said it like it was a joke they'd shared before.
"What?!" shared before?, everyone was thinking.
"This is some kind of mistake," Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."
The boy in front of him turned and laughed. "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW."
"Sweet!" All the children of Mercury, and then some, wondered if this Piper girl was their sister.
The girl 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 eyebrows at Jason like, can you believe her?
How can you talk someone into lending you something like a car? Especially when the one doing the talking is too young to drive? Were the questions running through everyone's mind.
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 right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects.
"He might be our brother too," said a few kids of Mercury thoughtfully – or as thoughtfully as a child of Mercury can talk.
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.
"ADHD," a few demigods muttered.
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.
Reyna interrupted herself, and asked the kids who were known to play practical jokes, "how would Jason know that?"
Maggie and Keren, daughters of Mercury, looked at each other guiltily. "Well, you see, Reyna…"
By the end of their explanation of how the water buffalo they had once had died, people were either rolling on the floor laughing, like most of the younger kids, or they were looking at the two girls very sternly. This group included Reyna and Octavian. There was no in-between group.
Fifteen minutes later, after giving the girls their punishment, they were reading again.
"Anyway," Leo said, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago.
"What?" gasped a few children of Minerva, who had been remarkably quiet up 'til now. A few campers laughed at their expressions.
Why are you looking at me like that? Somebody draw on my face again?"
"Again?" asked Anita, daughter of Minerva. Everyone shrugged.
"I don't know you," Jason said.
"Blunt as always, aren't you Jason?" laughed Bobby.
Leo gave him a crocodile grin.
"A what?" asked Megan, a daughter of Venus.
"It means a toothy smirk," said Maggie impatiently.
"Oh, okay," she sat back and continued inspecting her fingernails.
"Sure. I'm not your best friend.
"No, you're not!" said Bobby indignantly.
I'm his evil clone."
"Lame," a few Mercury offspring scoffed.
"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"
Leo winked at Jason.
Reyna read on quickly, before anyone could make a comment.
"Watch this." He turned to the front. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?"
They looked at each other in confusion.
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.
So did the Romans.
The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "the cow says moo!"
"That definitely made up for his lame joke before!" called Jonathan, another son of Mercury.
The kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "Valdez!"
Piper stifled a laugh. "My god, Leo.
"Gods," muttered Michelle, daughter of Minerva.
How did you do that?"
Leo slipped a tiny Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "I'm a special boy."
A couple kids of Vulcan looked at each other, wondering if he was a brother of theirs, but quickly dismissed it – he was too childish, and a prankster to boot.
"Guys, seriously," Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"
No one commented, mainly because they wanted to know themselves. Reyna read more quickly now.
Piper knit her eyebrows, "Jason, are you joking?"
"No! I have no idea—"
"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said.
"No he's not!" yelled Bobby and Reyna. Everyone looked at them weirdly: Bobby, for saying the same thing as Reyna, and Reyna for actually showing emotion.
"He's trying to get me for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?"
It was a mark of how much they all wanted answers so badly, that nobody commented.
Jason stared at him blankly.
"No, I think he's serious."
"Finally, some common sense," said Gwen, daughter of Venus and centurion of Fifth Cohort.
Piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away.
"Maybe I spoke too soon," Gwen said.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't—I can't—"
"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.
"Be worried!" The entire camp yelled (except Octavian).
"Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"
"Is this girl stupid? That's what he's been trying to say, but they won't let him!" Hazel said furiously. Although she had only known Jason for a few weeks before he disappeared, he had taken her under his wing, and by the end of her first week, she considered him a brother as much as she did Nico.
Jason shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."
They looked at each other, stunned. There was really nothing to say, so after a long, miserable silence, Reyna started reading again.
The bus dropped them in front of a big red stucco complex
"A what?" interrupted Oliver, a son of Ceres.
Reyna bristled, she didn't like being interrupted in the middle of a sentence, but she let Audrey, daughter of the wisdom goddess to answer.
"A stucco complex is a building made of something like plaster."
"Oh, okay, thanks." He said.
Like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Maybe that's what it was:
Has he gone 'round the bend? Quite a few people wondered.
The National Museum of Nowhere, Jason thought.
"You know, sometimes I wonder how Jason isn't one of you," Gwen said to the Mercury kids. They smiled proudly, that is, after they had stopped laughing.
A cold wind blew across the desert.
Everyone sobered up – they knew that was foreshadowing something really bad.
Jason hadn't paid much attention
"What?" gasped the kids of Minerva. Reyna actually smiled, and continued reading the sentence.
to what he was wearing,
The children of Minerva sat back, relaxing again, but the children of Venus cried hysterically, "what?"
Everyone – yes, even Octavian and Reyna – started laughing at their expressions.
but it wasn't nearly warm enough:
Reyna and Hazel, as well as a few other girls, fretted silently.
jeans and sneakers, a purple T-shirt,
They cheered for their camp shirt. They all felt better knowing that Jason had something of his past with him, even if he didn't know its significance.
and a thin black windbreaker.
"So, a crash course for the amnesiac,"
"As if it's going to be helpful, Leo doesn't believe him," a few people muttered.
Leo said in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful.
"See," said the same people who had spoken before this sentence.
"No one doubted you," said the ones who were sitting next to them. They flushed.
"We go to the 'Wilderness School'"—Leo made air quotes with his fingers. "Which means we're 'bad kids.'
"You're not a bad kid, Jason!"
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'—
A few demigods snickered.
in Armpit, Nevada,
"What kind of name is that?! Who named this city, a bunch of ten-year-old boys?!"
"Hey!" said all the ten-year-old boys. "Watch who you're talking about!"
where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats!
Reyna was interrupted for the fourth time that paragraph. "Could someone please explain to me how those skills are valuable?" asked Hazel politely.
No one answered.
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 glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls.
All the girls smiled smugly. The boys rolled their eyes at them.
None of them looked like hardened criminals, but he wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.
"You don't, how many times do we have to tell you?" said Sonya, a legacy of the goddess Trivia, whom some people swore wasn't right in the head.
Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh?
"I'm really not liking this Leo kid," muttered Bobby to the person sitting next to him, Hank, who was the Third Cohorts' senior centurion. Hank nodded.
Okay, so the three 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—"
"Hey Lauren, remember when we tried getting Johnny to do our chores?"
"Yeah, pity Jason caught us. It would've been so much fun!"
"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—"
Everyone started grinning, thinking that it was about time Jason had a girlfriend.
"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason could feel his face burning too. He thought he'd remember if he'd been going out with a girl like Piper.
A few guys wolf-whistled.
"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."
"Yes, please do."
Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."
Reyna's voice turned ice-cold, "don't even think about it." Many legionnaires shivered, thinking back to their training with Lupa, and how even she didn't sound as cold as Reyna did now. They wondered how that was even possible, because Lupa was as cold as they got.
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 Jason and scowl.
"Leo, Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or—"
"Yo, Piper."
"What now?" Jason's' friends wanted to scream.
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?"
Everyone silently agreed on one thing: they didn't like anyone who was going to make their missing praetor unhappy, in whatever way, shape or form that was, not only because he was their leader, but also because he was a generally liked person (as opposed to Octavian, or even Reyna). Jason was very friendly and supporting, and no matter what the issue was, he would always take the time to help you solve it. That, along with the fact that he was probably the most experienced soldier in the legion, was the main reason he was elected praetor.
The new guy had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: Do not stare directly at teeth. Permanent blindness may occur.
The tension dissolved, and everyone snorted.
He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans and boots,
"Ewww," said all of the children of Venus in synch. "Why would he even consider wearing such hideous things?"
and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere.
Some people looked like they were going to be sick.
Jason hated him instantly.
"Good, he should," said Matt, of the Second Cohort. He blinked. "Hey, that rhymed!" he laughed. Others joined in.
"Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."
"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!"
"Unlucky is more like it," said a few legionnaires.
Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911.
A few Romans grimaced.
Leo got up and brushed himself off. "I hate that guy."
"Ditto!"
He offered Jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside together.
They looked at each other, their expressions saying what they thought of Leo's mental stability.
"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!"
Now they were laughing.
"Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."
They all nodded in agreement.
"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!"
"Well, that's one way to look at it," said Maggie.
Jason figured that if this was his best friend,
"He's not!" said Bobby heatedly.
his life must be pretty messed up; but he followed Leo into the museum.
0-0-0
They walked through the building, stopping here and there for Coach Hedge to lecture them
"He knows enough to be able to lecture them?" Anita, Michelle and Audrey, daughters of Minerva, gasped, incredulous.
with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a Sith Lord or blared out random comments like "The pig says oink."
A few snorted at the reminder.
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.
The children of Vulcan looked at each other; maybe Leo was one of their brothers.
Jason was too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits,
The children/ legacies of Minerva looked pained.
but they were about the Grand Canyon, and the Hualapai tribe that owned the museum.
"At least he's paying a bit of attention to the museum."
Some girls kept looking over at Piper and Dylan and snickering.
"What's so funny?" asked one of the youngest boys in the legion – nine-year-old Michael of the fourth cohort. No one answered him.
Jason figured these girls were the popular clique. They wore matching jeans and pink tops and enough makeup for a Halloween party.
Girls and boys alike looked disgusted.
One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"
"Some people are so cruel," said Maya, a daughter of Ceres.
The other girls laughed. Even Piper's so-called partner Dylan suppressed a smile. Piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but Jason got the feeling she was clenching her fists.
"Good," the children/ legacies of Mars said.
"My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."
"I like her," Reyna approved. Everyone was laughing.
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."
"She's a demigod," a few legionnaires said confidently.
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.
"Why isn't Jason doing anything?" demanded Bobby. No one answered him, most wondering the same thing themselves.
"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 Jason was ready to punch them himself.
"Good."
He might not remember Piper, or even who he was, but he knew he hated mean kids.
"Oh, yeah he does," said a couple a soldiers from the first cohort, wincing. They had been bullies until Jason got a hold of them; they were reformed now.
Leo caught his arm. "Be cool. Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles.
"It's nice to know there are women who stand up for themselves," said Gwen, liking Piper even more now.
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!'"
They all looked at each other in confusion.
"Why? What about her dad?"
Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding?
"He's really dumb, isn't he?" Oliver said incredulously.
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."
Every single Roman – except Octavian – nodded in agreement.
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,"
A few soldiers of the second cohort snickered.
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.
Reyna interrupted herself, and said in a firm voice, "Don't even think about trying anything." Those who had perked up at the coach's announcement slumped down again.
If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."
"What a caring, worried teacher!"
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."
A few awed Romans nodded.
Jason had to agree. Despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, he couldn't help being impressed.
The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture.
"Well, of course it is," said Michelle as though wondering why Jason was stating the obvious.
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 Jason could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.
There was silence as people realized what Jason had said, then everyone broke out in whispered conversation with their neighbors.
"Do you think his memory is coming back?"
"He must have needed a trigger or something..."
Reyna cleared her voice loudly, and everyone quieted down.
Jason got a piercing pain behind his eyes.
They winced in sympathy.
Crazy gods... Where had he come up with that idea? He felt like he'd gotten close to something important—something he should know about.
"He should know about it. This is so frustrating. Are you sure we can't interfere with what happens?" Bobby directed the last sentence at Reyna.
She nodded reluctantly, "I'm sure."
He also got the unmistakable feeling he was in danger.
They held their breaths.
"You all right?" Leo asked. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera."
That lightened the tension a bit, but it was sizzling near the surface.
Jason grabbed the railing. He was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights.
"Of course it doesn't, whoever heard of a child of Jupiter with acrophobia?" Anita said with an eyebrow raise.
He blinked, and the pain behind his eyes subsided.
"Well, at least he's not in pain anymore," Hazel tried to point out the positive.
"I'm fine," he managed. "Just a headache."
Thunder rumbled overhead. A cold wind almost knocked him sideways.
"Now, that's ominous," said Hank. No one disagreed.
"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?"
They looked at each other.
Jason 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.
The Romans all did too.
"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 Jason's head began to hurt again.
His friends winced in sympathy.
Not knowing why he did it, he reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a coin
"Yes!" "Thank the gods, he still has his weapon!"
—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.
"Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked. "You been holding out on me!"
"The gold part of it is the least important part of it, idiot," muttered Bobby under his breath.
Jason put the coin away, wondering how he'd come to have it, and why he had the feeling he was going to need it soon.
"Because you are," said Hank of the third cohort.
"It's nothing," he said. "Just a coin."
Eye rolling and snickers accompanied that sentence.
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."
"Boys," Gwen rolled her eyes. The boys couldn't defend themselves because Reyna had already continued reading.
0-0-0
They didn't try very hard on the worksheet.
The children of Minerva looked horrified and some groaned while dropping their heads in their hands, giving up.
For one thing, Jason was too distracted by the storm and his own mixed-up feelings. For another thing, he didn't have any idea how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."
A few of the children of Minerva opened their mouths to answer, but Reyna silenced them with a glance before they could start.
Leo was no help.
"Of course he wasn't."
He was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners.
"Cool!"
"Check it out." He launched the copter. Jason 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 spiraled into the void.
The children and legacies of Vulcan looked at each other, reevaluating their assumption that Leo couldn't be their brother.
"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?"
"No!"
"Last I checked."
"You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"
"It was…" Leo frowned. "I don't recall exactly. I'm ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember details."
Everyone groaned in frustration; they thought they were finally going to get some answers, but noooo...
"But I don't remember you at all. I don't remember anyone here.
"You're not supposed to," Bobby said.
What if—"
"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 few people nodded.
A little voice in Jason's head said, That's exactly what I think.
But it sounded crazy.
"Crazy doesn't always equal wrong, Jay," Reyna said softly. No one commented.
Everybody here took him for granted. Everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class—except for Coach Hedge.
"Do you think he's a monster?" one of the younger soldiers asked fearfully.
"I don't think so," Hazel said. "He would have attacked by now, wouldn't he?"
"Take the worksheet." Jason handed Leo the paper. "I'll be right back."
Before Leo could protest, 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.
"I'm gonna say the weird weather," Karen said.
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,
"Finally, someone is doing the work," Anita, daughter of Minerva said.
"It says trying to, not actually doing," Jacob retorted.
but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile.
Anita and her siblings groaned.
She kept pushing him away, and when she saw Jason she gave him a look like, Throttle this guy for me.
Yes, please do, most everyone thought.
Jason motioned for her to hang on. He walked up to Coach Hedge, who was leaning on his baseball bat, studying the storm clouds.
"Did you do this?" the coach asked him.
"What's he talking about?"
Jason took a step back. "Do what?" It sounded like the coach had just asked if he'd made the thunderstorm.
"Oh, I guess that would actually make sense if he knew he could do something like that."
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?"
They looked at each other, confused. What job?
"You mean...you don't know me?" Jason said. "I'm not one of your students?"
Hedge snorted. "Never seen you before today."
Jason was so relieved he almost wanted to cry. At least he wasn't going insane.
"That's 'cause he's already insane," Maggie said, trying to relieve some of the tension.
He was in the wrong place.
"He most certainly is! He should be here, not with some stupid mortals!" Octavian finally contributed to the comments.
"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."
"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret. "You got a powerful way with the Mist,
Those who knew what that meant started to get suspicious.
kid, 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.
"Jason's not a monster!" "How dare he!" "That- that- stupid- fashion catastrophe!"
I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster.
"Course he doesn't!"
You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"
"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, praetor, defeater of Krios, from Camp Jupiter!" Lauren, legacy of Mercury, said. Reyna glared at her, and continued.
Most of what the coach said didn't make sense, but Jason decided to answer honestly. "I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."
"Please do!" those closest to Jason begged.
Coach Hedge studied his face like was trying to read Jason's thoughts.
"Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."
"Can he read thoughts?" Frank asked, alarmed. No one answered.
"Of course I am! And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"
Everyone looked dismayed. They thought, maybe, the words would trigger his memory, but apparently not.
Hedge narrowed his eyes. Part of Jason wondered if the guy was just nuts. But the other part knew better.
"Look, kid," Hedge said, "I don't know who you are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect three of you rather than two.
"So Leo and Piper are definitely demigods..." Michelle mused.
Are you the special package?
"Huh?"
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.
The Romans looked troubled.
"This morning," Hedge said, "I got a message from camp.
"Camp? From us?" Reyna looked surprised.
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.
"What does that mean? Why didn't they go to the wolf house?"
I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group.
Suddenly, everyone looked a lot more worried. They knew Jason could handle himself in normal circumstances, but these weren't normal.
I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up.
"We don't pick people up! They need to prove themselves and get here on their own!" Reyna said, indignant.
But then you pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"
The pain behind Jason's eyes got worse than ever.
They looked more anxious than ever. If the monster caught him like this...
Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. He 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.
A few soldiers looked thoughtful, trying to figure out what caused his amnesia.
He stumbled,
They sucked in a breath.
and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach had hands like steel.
And let it out.
"Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you, too,
"Good, someone's looking out for him."
until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."
"What director?" Hazel said.
"What director?"
Everyone looked at Hazel.
Jason said. "What camp?"
"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"
"He jinxed it! Is he stupid? Of course something will happen now!"
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!"
No one even laughed, they were so tense.
"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.
"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"
"That's the end of the chapter. Who wants to read next?" Reyna said.
"I will," Bobby grabbed the book, starting to read immediately, wanting to know his best friend was alright.