Welcome to our first chapter of 2023!

(I meant to publish this a month ago and literally forgot about it).

X: Jason's First Dream or Nightmare (Same Difference) in Oh So Long

Jason doesn't know where he is … again.

He's in a dark forest, walking down a path he can barely see. Wind chills his bare arms and he realizes he's in the dark purple SPQR shirt he wore when he first appeared at the Wilderness School. The gold letters and design catch the light that barely peeks through the foliage above him. He looks down at the matching tattoo on his arm, catching the glint of his coin in his hand. It's cold on his fingertips as he pinches it. Before he could examine the sides, he hears a growl.

Jason whips his head around, every sound from the wind to the leaves to a twig snapping far away catches his attention. Every growl and snarl stiffens his body, speeds his heart, and makes him grin as the hairs on the back of his neck rise.

Instinctively, he flips his coin and watches it morph in the air. The lance catches traces of moonlight as it spins in the arm. Raising his arm, he catches it, holding it behind him as he crouches, keeping his eyes on the unknown around him. His grip on it tightens and he starts to spin it, wielding it back to throw but his heart stops, sinks into his stomach.

Don't do it. Don't throw it.

Someone's yelling. A small, high-pitched voice in the distance grows louder, tunnelling him inside a cyclone of wind keeping him on the ground.

Then the rush by his ears stops and the forest is silent. Jason looks around him, scared to breathe because even the slightest noise could make him miss something important. Despite feeling his heart pounding against his ribs, he can't hear it.

The voice comes back and it's a little girl yelling his name and screaming cries.

"Jason!"

It's a little girl. Yelling his name. He can't put a name to the voice but some inkling of recognition inside of him lowers his sphere. He isn't sure where to go but forward and find out who it is.

"Jason! Come here! Mom, get off me! Jason!"

Jason's heart stops again. Someone's looking for him. Someone's here to take him home.

"Jason! Help me find him! I trusted you with him!"

Each scream is more piercing than the last. Her voice. The girl. Her name is on the tip of his tongue.

"T-"

He couldn't finish her name because he was already running, whipping through the trees at top speed, leaping over fallen trunks and rocks, and skidding across dirt paths at sharp turns. He doesn't know where he's going except to find this girl looking for him. He could put her at ease, saying that he was here. He's found. He could find out where he came from.

"Mom, we can't just leave him! There are wolves in these woods! Jason!"

A sharp pain biting into his shoulder elicits a scream from Jason. He drops the lance and rolls forward, leading with his other shoulder. Whatever bit him lands first, whimpering upon contact with the ground and scampering back to its feet before Jason. His shoulder is wet with blood and he grunts as he rolls his shoulder out. He's fine. But what about the girl? Jason's eyes flicker up and he sees a beast towering over him. Dark, beady eyes glow in the dark, a deep crimson red like the stain burning on his shoulder.

Jason locks eyes with the beast who starts snarling, pearly white and sharp teeth dripping blood. He feels around him for his lance, scraping across twigs and grass patches. The moment something cold meets his fingertips, Jason wraps his fingers around it. A roar builds inside of him. He almost lets it out but the moment he's on his feet, the beast lunges towards him.

Head bent, the beast checks him right in the chest. Jason flies back, crashing straight through a tree. He thought he could land on the ground but he's falling, rolling down a hill. He grunts, dirt catching in his mouth. Jason lands roughly on his side, rolling on his stomach. His lance is back to his coin state. He quickly grabs and flips it, standing just in time to catch a sword.

Lightning sparks against his blade as he turns back around. Jason looks towards the hill and the beast has multiplied: the wolf found its pack. Jason widens his stance, wielding his sword as the wolves snarl.

Something about this feels so familiar that it's unsettling. He's been here before.

Jason exhales as the wolves around him slow down. His heart beat deafens in his mind and all the wolves start to blur. He tries to focus on the girl's voice, her yells for him, but nothing. Not even the wolves around him make any noise.

Tears prick his eyes as he looks ahead to an empty forest. No wolves, just trees. Jason's body softens as something else builds up in his chest. It's not a roar but it hurts more than the bite in his shoulder. He swings the sword around and it turns back into a coin in the palm of his hand. He slips it back into his pocket but his eye flicker up when he hears something approach him from behind.

Jason looks over his bitten shoulder but doesn't do anything. It's another wolf but this one holds herself stronger, bolder. She looks down at him with fierce yet motherly eyes.

"You're ready, Jason Grace," she tells him.

She has a different voice than the girl yelling for him, but the wolf still sounds so familiar. Those words too … he's heard them before.

"For what?" Jason asks.

"Your place."

Before he could even ask what that means, the wolf's eyes look out past him. Jason turns back around and a bright light blinds him. It warms him up … almost like he's at home.

-o-

Jason jolts awake and he shivers. He wrestles out of his blanket and falls onto the floor. He lies there for a minute, catching his breath and calming down.

Eventually, he rolls onto his back and stares up at the ceiling. Bright lights and rumbles from a storm outside flash and continue outside, muted by his ratted curtains in The Wilderness School.

Everything about that was a dream … but it wasn't.

It felt too real. It felt like he's lived it all before.

Jason rises and opens the curtains, watching lightning strike but no thunder.

Someone was looking for him, screaming for him in a forest full of wolves. He had his coin that turned into weapons he was used to. Wolves were out to get him. Their (assumed) alpha telling him he was ready and then he felt like he was home.

Lightning strikes again and he still looks outside at the emptiness of the vast desert. Deep lines trace the forest just outside the school and the fence keeping them out. Or, if anything, keeping the wolves on their side.

Lightning flashes a third time and the reflection of a wolf appears. He quickly closes the drapes.

Rain starts pattering outside and Jason takes a seat on the edge of his bed, lying on his back. He closes his eyes, pressing his fists against them and trying to remember the voice of the girl trying to find him. Someone had to be out there looking for him before he disappeared.

Her name escapes him but he almost said it back there. Nothing comes to him so he relaxes, keeping his eyes close. Maybe it'll come to him later. Maybe in the morning.

Then, a third woman's voice echoes in his mind once thunder rumbles: "Never fear a storm, Jason, it's your father saying that he loves you."