Wow, I was definiately not expecting so many reviews and great feedback. So much thanks to: Melissa daighte of Hecate, DeathlyHallowsschoolgirl, Scarpool, madmc12, SheWhoDreamsInsteadOfSleeps, squirrelkit and leafkit, CreCra, Guest, FreakingOutAlways, Hailey, Guest(2), KTDLover, HotPinkLady, Guest(3), doihafta, Percy Jackson2, PERCABETHLOVE, Piplup and Guest(4) for reviewing.
Guest: I wouldn't say I'm traumatized as much, but definatly shocked. I just want to give him a hug.
Hailey: Thank you. I really doubt I'm as good as Rick, but I'm flattered you think so :). Yuo'll find out in just a second.
Guest(2): Thank you! :)
PERCABETHLOVE: No, I didn't forget, it's explained here. Sorry if I confused you.
Piplup: Thank you, I tried to add some more desciption between text (not sure how well did). Haha, sorry about that.
Guest(3): Thank you!
Percy Jackson2: Thank you for your thoughts, you've given me an idea!
doihafta: Um... this is a fanfiction for The Blood of Olympus. If you don't know what the first is, run. If you don't know what the second is then start reading Percy Jackson. If you liked it: Thank you! :)
Guest(4): Here's more!
HotPinkLady: Thank you so much for your review. I'm glad you enjoyed it, yeah, I think Rick'll pull somthing like that too (poor guys) and I'm glad you think it's alright. I thought that as much as Percy and Annabeth might need each other, the others had a tough time without them and Piper and Annabeth seemed really close. Your wish is my command (at some point). Will do!
The Blood of Olympus
II
JASON
After Jason got over his initial heart attack, he remained confused. Coach Hedge had gone with Nico and Reyna to present the Athena Parthenos to the Greek and Romans as a peace offering.
"What?" spluttered Jason.
"Keep that rainbow straight, miss," shouted Coach Hedge. "I'm vertically challenged enough as it is!"
Jason heard Reyna mumbling under her breath as the image of Coach Hedge changed and smoothed over as though a film had been drawn back.
"What?" asked Jason again, feeling as though he was still dreaming.
"Stop mumbling," snapped Coach Hedge. "I said, I have bad news."
"Okay," said Jason.
"No, not 'okay' cupcake! Bad news, bad. Not okay!" shouted Coach Hedge.
Jason gritted his teeth, it was like prying clams open, struggling with the tough outer shell under it finally fell apart to find only a small pearl of wisdom hidden inside.
If Jason had been any more philosophical he would have carried on, mentally debating that sometimes what looks small turns out to be huge in the long run: but Jason was tired so he just blinked and said: "What kind of bad news?"
"The kind of bad news that'll get you killed if you don't pay attention to me," said Coach Hedge threateningly.
Reyna's voice sounded from behind the IM, clearer than before. "And this is why I should have… IMed…" her voice tailed a bit at the unfamiliar word. It sounded sour in her throat. "Why I should have IMed them," she continued and Jason could just hear her eye roll.
It was a gift that Reyna possessed. To be able to imitate her actions with only her voice. Other expressions she could do were glaring, disappointment and annoyed as Pluto.
"You're just melodramatic, satyr," said Reyna.
Coach Hedge glared over the mist at where Reyna was stood. He shook his stick once before turning back to Jason.
"Anyway, there are a flock of striges heading your way at top speed," said Coach Hedge. "If that son of Hades really did take us a hundred miles – which I'm still not certain about – then they should be there by midday. By Reyna's calculations anyway."
"They'll be there by midday," came Reyna's voice again. "Watch out, they weren't alone either. There were-"
"Ahem," Coach Hedge cut across her. "I was talking. We heard shouts heading the same way. Coincidence? I think not."
"Hold on," Jason said, confused. "You IMed me at 5:30 in the morning to warn me about an attack at midday?"
"Of course not," said Coach Hedge. "You'll be taken out of the sky way before then if you don't hurry and get to your port before I count to ten. And I wanted to say hello. Make sure you're all doing okay without me."
Coach Hedge's voice was gruff sounding, but Jason could see a hint of worry behind his eyes. Jason was touched that the satyr actually cared about them, no matter how much he pretended otherwise, but still slightly concerned that this would become a regular occurrence.
He decided that if the Coach wanted to check up on them at 5:30AM daily, they would have to take shifts.
"We're all fine," said Jason. "A little beat up still, but when aren't we?"
Coach Hedge looked for a moment as though he would like to answer that question, but obviously thought better of it. He sighed and touched his aluminium can to his horns.
Good luck, kid," he said before cutting the connection.
Jason dressed hurriedly, throwing on jeans and a shirt that read Meine Schlaft. Jason didn't know why it was in German or what it read, but it was cleaner than most other items of clothing with only a slight smear of something on the collar.
Seriously, Jason thought as he looked at his jeans properly. They were covered in black stuff that Jason presumed was either coal, slime or just general gunk. I swear we had a laundry monitor. That plan had fallen through pretty much straightaway with everyone just grabbing new clothes from gift shops.
Jason made his way to the breakfast hall and was only partially surprised when he found Piper there.
"Hey," he said.
Piper smiled at him, her hair in a disarrayed corona around her head. "Hi. Nightmares?"
Sometimes Jason thought that Piper could read his mind. "Kind of," he said, sliding into the seat opposite her. "That's why I woke up. Coach Hedge IMed me."
Piper frowned, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Why?"
"He was warning us; apparently some striges are going to join the party of monsters trying to kill us around lunchtime."
"Lovely," wrinkling her nose, Piper took a sip from her goblet before spitting it out into the cup again. "Stupid thing," muttered Piper. "I keep having to specify the temperature I want my hot chocolate to be or it just gives me piping hot and freezing cold. I swear kettles are more complainant than these things."
Jason took Piper's hand. Her cheeks flushed pink, something Jason knew she hated, but that he loved.
"So," she said, adverting her eyes from their entwined hands to Jason's face and changing the subject. "What are these striges?"
Jason bit his lip, trying to think of the best way to describe them. "Um… They're flesh-eating, ill-omen-bringing owls," he said finally. "I think we can take them."
Piper laughed. "Oh I don't know: I've always been scared of oversized chickens."
Then the rest of Coach Hedge's warning flashed through his mind.
"He said something about there being others heading in the same direction. After us."
Piper was silent for a moment, stroking his knuckles with her thumb as the sun rose, letting light leak through circular windows and into golden pools, spilling onto the wooden flooring and turning it from brown to a burnt-amber color that made Jason think of fire, flickering out and dying as the wood charred into ash.
Or as Leo stopped messing around.
"We should tell the others," she said finally. "As much as I hate to wake them all up…"
"This affects us all," agreed Jason.
Piper sighed. "I just wish we could all have just one moment of peace, you know?"
"I know," said Jason. "I'll go to the cabins; you find Leo."
It didn't take long for Jason to wake Frank who jerked out of his slumber with a punch reflex at the ceiling before getting out of bed. His pyjamas, always a little short, now hung at his shins and below his elbows.
"Jason?" he asked blearily.
"Meeting in the food hall," said Jason. "Like, now."
"Give me five minutes," said Frank, grabbing a bundle of clothes from the end of his bed and backing into his bathroom. As Jason left the room, he heard the blasting of water from the shower, he wished he had stopped for a shower, he felt stiff all over and dirty, like a coat of blood had crusted onto his body.
Jason knocked on Hazel's door and shouted for her to get dressed, he didn't feel like invading her privacy, but at Annabeth's door he paused.
Feeling a little stalkerish, Jason pressed his ear to the wood he could make out faint snuffles of breathing and the rustling of sheets.
"Annabeth," he called.
There was no reply so Jason pushed the door open slowly and peered in.
Annabeth was alone. Was that a good or bad thing? Jason didn't know. She rolled to one side of the bed and then struck out, kicking with her legs desperately against the covers which had twisted around her legs.
She gave a scream, weak and muffled. Jason was across the room shaking her awake before he even had time to blink.
Her gray eyes opened, scared and confused, her face tear streaked. "Jason?" she asked; her voice shaky. "What? Where's Percy?"
She sat up straight, pushing herself from the bed and bustled past Jason and piling her hair into a mess of blonde on top of her head.
"Annabeth," began Jason uncomfortably. "I'm here to help. If you ever need to talk to anyone… I mean, anyone else… I'm here."
Annabeth froze; her back to Jason. "Thank you for waking me," she said stiffly.
Jason waited for her to say something else. She didn't, but turned to look at him expectantly, frowning.
"Oh… um… we're having a meeting in the food hall," said Jason uncomfortably.
"Okay," said Annabeth. "Percy and I'll see you there in a few." Then she left the room, leaving the door open. Inviting Jason to leave.
Jason sighed, squaring his shoulders and keeping his head down as he walked past Percy's room.
He had always had a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that whispered that Annabeth didn't really like him. Jason had tried to ignore it, but recently Jason had started to notice the way he was getting sideways glances from everyone.
He partially blamed Nico for that, making him keep secrets. Jason didn't like keeping things to himself, preferring to discuss and share with other people, but he found that more and more lately it was becoming impossible.
Could Jason trust everyone? With his life, sure. But with his skeletons in the cupboard? Jason wasn't so sure.
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