Jason is having a weird day.
He'd say it's been the weirdest day of his life, but he'd have to remember anything prior to today to be sure of that.
In the last twelve hours, he's woken up on a bus with two complete strangers claiming to be his best friend and girlfriend respectively. He's watched his gym coach grow goat legs and get kidnapped by a tornado. He's been attacked by a jock turned venti and saved Leo, his aforementioned "best friend," from falling off the Grand Canyon. And, then...
Well, what happened next is still confusing him. In sort of a good way, though.
Jason shuffles awkwardly into the amphitheater. Swarms of kids in orange t-shirts are already filling most of the rows, all clustered together under banners with different symbols of the gods. Jason glances down at the tattoo on his forearm. The eagle. It matches the symbol brandished proudly on the Jupiter banner. He sort of hopes that's a coincidence.
"Jason!"
He looks over at the shout, spotting Annabeth sitting at the front of a group of blonde kids he can assume to be her siblings. She waves him over, patting the empty seat beside her, and he complies. He sends her a thankful smile, which she answers with a curt nod and returns stormy grey eyes to the bonfire.
Someone taps Jason on the shoulder, and he looks around to see Piper settling into a seat behind him. Guilt twists in his chest, but he shoots her a tight grin, and she returns it warmly. She's been very patient with him. More than he deserves. The thought makes Jason feel even worse when he turns back to the group of campers and catches himself searching for a pair of hypnotic green eyes.
His concern over the Juno - or Hera, rather - situation is leaving him chomping at the bits. He isn't sure what Chiron is going to share during this campfire. He isn't sure what is safe for Jason to share with anyone here. He still has the vague sense that he's in danger. Though, he can't pinpoint exactly why.
He hears Piper sigh irritably behind him and looks up. His heart jumps in his chest.
It's like she's magnetic. His gaze finds her the moment she enters.
Jason remembers how she'd looked when he first lay eyes on her. She'd come running up to the group, cheeks flushed with exertion and summer green eyes wild with excitement. She'd smiled at him, rosy lips parting into a perfect arc that made Jason's chest ache with familiarity. Like he'd watched them do so a thousand times before. And when she'd spoken - when she'd kissed him...
All Jason knows is that she's been the only thing to feel real to him since waking up on that bus. More real than the sound of his own name.
She's more put together now. Her hair is falling in rose gold waves down to her elbows, a few strands braided randomly throughout and adorned with pieces of sparkly streamer-like material. She's one of the only kids sitting in front of the dove banner that's wearing a camp shirt, but it's tied higher up her stomach with a green ribbon. Jason flushes and hastily pulls his eyes away from the strip of skin exposed on her midriff. He focuses instead on the little yellow stars she's drawn by her eyes. They're bright and cute. He has to fight a smile at the sight of them.
She seems to be pointedly not looking in his direction. There's a bashful flush on her face, though, like she can feel his eyes on her. He looks away so as to not make her uncomfortable.
It makes sense that her mother is Venus. She's beautiful. It'd be great if he actually knew who she is.
Jason's mouth is dry. He swallows and turns to distract himself with a conversation. He almost jumps out of his skin when he notices Annabeth's calculating gaze already on him. The blonde is frowning, her eyes scanning over his features like she's memorizing his genetic makeup. He clears his throat and starts to greet her when he's interrupted by a sudden riff of a saxophone.
He turns in bewilderment.
Yes. A saxophone. Okay, then.
The next fifteen minutes are just the right amount of weird to fit in perfectly with the rest of his day. Jason sees the same incredulousness and slight alarm mirrored in both Piper and Leo when he makes awkward eye contact with them during the seemingly spontaneous sing-along they've found themselves in the center of. His eyes migrate back to the daughter of Venus at some point, and he watches in fascination as she leans over to allow one of her younger sisters to whisper in her ear before the both of them erupt into conspiratorial giggles. Jason feels a grin creep across his face and shakes his head. He has a feeling he doesn't want to know what information was just exchanged. When the surprisingly long song finally winds to a close and the crowd erupts into applause, Jason relaxes, and Chiron comes trotting into the center of the circle of teenagers.
"Very nice!" He compliments, prompting another round of enthusiastic applause. Chiron turns and gestures over to Jason, Piper, and Leo individually. "And a special welcome to our new arrivals!" More applause, this time laced with a few wolf whistles that have the centaur glaring in the direction of the Mercury group. "I am Chiron, the camp activities director, and I am happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached."
"Hear, hear!"
"Yes, thank you, Travis. Now, in a moment, I promise we'll get to s'mores, but-"
"What about capture the flag?" Someone shouts. The Mars cabin all become restless at the interjection, grumbling and looking over at the Vulcan kids accusingly. What follows is a strange blame-game that Jason believes is about who's fault it is that a feral metal dragon is apparently rampaging through the woods.
"Can't you send dragon-girl after it?" The first kid questions. Half the crowd exclaims their annoyance. Jason looks over at the demigod he figures the boy is referring to hesitantly.
Scowling, the rose-gold daughter of Venus sits up taller and crosses her arms. She addresses the boy who just spoke. "Can't you pretend you have a brain? What the Hades am I gonna do?" She snips.
Jason lets out a startled laugh along with the rest of the group. Piper frowns down at him warily, and Jason averts his eyes.
"All right, that's enough." Interrupts Chiron. "We will have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."
"Percy?" Someone calls out.
The room seems to get dimmer. Jason hears Annabeth stand up beside him. He looks up to find her face as blank as stone.
"I didn't find Percy." She declares, her voice faltering on her boyfriend's name. The crowd mumbles around them in disappointment. She pushes on. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But, we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere: Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis - everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."
"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?"
The crowd goes silent and still at the voice, all eyes pointed at the Venus campers. Drew Tanaka is sitting beside Jason's girl (He needs to learn her name.) with one leg draped over the other and her arms crossed. At the sudden attention, the dark haired girl sighs and stands. The crowd starts to murmur.
"Drew?" Annabeth prompts. "What do you mean?"
"Well, come on," Drew scoffs, spreading her arms in a 'duh' gesture. "Olympus is closed. Percy's disappeared. Hera sends you a vision, and you come back with three demigods in one day. I mean, something is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?"
Jason's eyes flit to Drew's sister. She's gone ghostly pale. Her fingers are fidgeting, scratching long nails across the tops of her thighs.
"Well?" Drew says irritably. Jason looks back up at her and follows her gaze to a tense looking Rachel Dare. "You're the Oracle. Has it started or not?"
The redhead looks eerie in the light of the bonfire. Shadows are dancing off her face, hollowing her cheeks, deadening her eyes. Jason holds in a shudder when she speaks, low and breathy. "Yes. The Great Prophecy has begun."
The amphitheater explodes into chaos.
People start shouting over each other, everyone looking more panicked by the second. Jason sees Piper tense in the corner of his eye and looks over to give her a reassuring smile.
'You okay?' He mouths.
She blinks at him. Her lips twitch into the ghost of a fearful smile. She nods, but then looks away from him quickly.
The guilt is back. Jason swallows it down.
Rachel Dare stands as the chatter starts to roll to a stop. All eyes focus back in on the girl.
"For those of you who have not heard it, the Great Prophecy was my first prediction. It arrived in August. It goes like this:" The Oracle takes a deep breath, and begins in a chilling tone.
"Seven Half-bloods shall answer the call-"
Something zaps in Jason's brain. He winces and rubs at his eyes.
"To storm or fire, the world must fall-"
It feels like lightning strikes his brain. Jason shoots to his feet, and Rachel cuts off and looks at him strangely. He starts to apologize, but words that aren't his own pour from him instead, faster than he can even think to register them.
"Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus," Jason has no idea what he's saying. "Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem."
Silence.
Jason's face feels hotter the longer it drags on. He glances at Leo, who's staring at him like he just stripped off all his clothes and started pirouetting in the fire. Piper just looks confused and unnerved. Annabeth's eyes are narrowed suspiciously, like he's a puzzle she's just starting to see the pattern in. Rachel looks surprised. She blinks at him in awe.
"You just finished the Prophecy..." She stammers. "-An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. How did you-"
Another lightning strike hits Jason's frontal lobe. He winces and cradles his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain.
"I know those lines." He chokes out. "I don't know how, but I know that prophecy."
There's more deafening silence. Jason opens his eyes and flushes again at the bewildered stares. Thankfully, Drew decides to lessen the tension. Although, he's not thrilled with her topic choice.
"In Latin no less," She smirks down at her strawberry blonde sister. "Handsome and smart."
The rest of their siblings look to their Head Counselor and giggle, but she doesn't even crack a smile. Those apple green eyes are locked onto Jason's. A different kind of electricity tingles in his gut. There's something swimming in her gaze...Concern? Anticipation?
Guilt?
Whatever it is, her stare is intense. Jason feels his cheeks flare red. He breaks the eye contact and sits back down heavily, deciding he's just going to have a staring contest with the dirt the rest of the night. That seems safe. The dirt won't make him blurt out random things in Latin.
Annabeth places a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry," She mutters. "That's not even in the top five weirdest things to happen at a campfire."
Jason laughs despite his nerves. He can feel Piper staring a hole through his back.
Rachel continues her introduction, expressing her concern that the extent of what the Great Prophecy is predicting may rival what the camp experienced during their last major conflict. She explains what happened at the Grand Canyon (minus a few less smaller details) and in Hera's cabin, eventually leading the group to this understanding:
The Queen of the Gods has been kidnapped. And she wants Jason to find her.
"Jason," Rachel addresses him directly. Jason gulps and raises his gaze back up to hers. She looks hesitant. "Um...do you remember your last name?"
Oh. Uhh...
Jason shakes his head.
Rachel tries to look reassuring. "Okay. We'll just call you-"
"Grace." calls a voice. Jason's eyes snap back to where they keep settling by habit tonight anyway. The daughter of Venus looks nervous, addressing Rachel rather than him. They share a meaningful look, and the Oracle's eyes widen. "It's Jason Grace." She says simply.
The crowd stares at the girl. Then, they all look to him in question.
Jason Grace...
Yeah. That's right.
He gapes at her. "How did you-"
"Okay, then. Jason Grace," Rachel continues her announcement with a stern expression. "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."
Her hard stare bores into Jason like she's challenging him to say otherwise. Something familiar rings through him. A feeling that makes him straighten his back and lock his jaw in resolution. Duty. Responsibility.
He's felt pretty in over his head during this whole experience. But this? A quest? Dangerous tasks in the name of the gods? Something instinctive in him knows this. Is comfortable with it. More comfortable than he is with group sing-alongs and s'mores.
He nods. "I agree."
And so, Chiron and the Oracle assign Jason his quest: rescue Queen Hera by the day of the Winter Solstice in four days.
"Why hasn't he been claimed, if he's so important?" A Mars camper cuts in at one point.
Jason has to admit, that's a fair point. Chiron seems to disagree.
"He has been claimed."
He has?
"Long ago."
Ummm...?
"Jason, give them a demonstration."
Jason blinks at the centaur blankly. The man just raises his eyebrows.
Panicked, Jason flicks his eyes to Piper. She shrugs and waves him on. Leo's no help - he just looks like he's trying not to laugh at Jason's distress. So, in desperation, Jason looks to the daughter of Venus.
She's smirking at him, looking just as amused as Leo. Jason's about to scowl at her and give up, but then she pulls out a golden coin from the pocket of her denim skirt and flicks it into the air with a wink.
Jason's eyes widen.
He reaches into his pocket and retrieves his own coin. He copies her action, tossing it into the air only to catch a fully expanded golden spear when it descends. The crowd gasps in awe.
"Dude, I want one!"
"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!"
An idea strikes Jason. He looks to see if there are still green eyes trained on him. There are.
"Electric...Stand back." He orders. Annabeth and Piper look at him warily, but comply, moving away from him until there's an empty circle surrounding him at least ten feet in all directions. Jason takes a deep breath.
'Father, please lend me your power...'
He thrusts his javelin into the air, and the world lights up blue.
Jason feels exhilarated. Every sense is dialed to 100. Every hair on his body is standing straight up. He can feel the ichor in his blood singing, elated to be reunited with its domain. The strike lasts for less than a second, but it feels like years. He blinks his eyes open in satisfaction.
The campfire is in ruins, smoking logs scattered throughout the pavilion haphazardly. The campers are looking at him in shock.
Oh. Whoops.
"Uh...sorry." He says sheepishly.
There's a beat of stillness, and then a loud snort echoes through the clearing. Jason looks over just in time to see the daughter of Venus fall onto the ground laughing, a still crackling log inches from where her face had been a moment before. Her siblings look on in horror as their Head Counselor gasps for air in the dirt, laughing too hard to form words. Half the camp follows her into hilarity within moments.
Jason's stomach swoops. Not the reaction he'd been expecting, but he'll take it.
Chiron chuckles himself, coming to stand beside Jason again. "A little overkill perhaps, but you've made your point. And, I believe we know who your father is."
Jason nods. He knows it like he knows the touch of the winds. "Jupiter. Zeus. Lord of the Sky."
Pandemonium erupts once again.
Through the shouting and chaos, Jason watches the Venus girl sit up and search out his eyes. She smiles at him knowingly, and something in his chest twists.
Who is this girl?
"The important thing is," says the Oracle. "Jason is here now. He has a quest to fulfill. Which means, he'll need a prophecy."
In a choreographed dance, the redhead's eyes roll back and she swoons into the arms of two waiting campers, who fluidly lower her onto a bronze stool hastily retrieved by a third. Emerald green smoke starts to ooze from the Oracle's pores, and a raspy, harrowing voice comes creaking from her throat.
"Child of Heartbreak, beware the Sky,
The blizzard's offer will erase a lie.
Two brothers or a past restored,
Four heroes turn the course of war.
Child of Lightning, beware the Earth,
The giants' revenge the seven shall birth.
The forge and doves shall break the cage,
And death unleashed through Hera's rage."
As the last verse escapes her, Rachel collapses backwards. Her entourage catch her easily and lift her from the stool, depositing her gently beside the Apollo section to rest. An uneasy silence follows the prediction.
Child of Lightning. Well, that's definitely Jason.
"Is that normal?" Piper asks worriedly from behind him. "I mean...does she spew green smoke a lot?"
Drew scoffs across the ruined hearth. "Gods, you're dense-"
"Drew." Venus girl snaps. Shockingly, Drew listens, falling silent with a huff. The Venus Head Counselor looks over to address Piper instead, which Jason's friend does not seem overly thrilled about. "Yes, Piper, she's alright." She says, which would be more reassuring if she didn't sound so unnerved herself.
The girl stands up, turning to address Chiron. "She said four heroes. Did I hear that right?"
The director looks grave. "Yes. I believe you are correct, Juliette."
Juliette. Something warm blooms in Jason's chest.
Annabeth speaks up. "If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage, why would we free her? This sounds like it might be a trap. Or she'll turn on her rescuers. Hera's never been kind to heroes. And, we already know she doesn't like Julie."
That's news to Jason, but Juliette looks down thoughtfully. "It doesn't matter. Like it or not, we can't just leave her trapped."
Annabeth seems to fall in the "or not" category.
"Hera took my memory," Jason adds. Green eyes snap to him. "I need it back."
The girl from Leo's cabin, Nyssa, lets out a worried grunt, raising a hand. "But, what are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the Queen of the Gods?"
Something indescribable flashes across Juliette's face, but it's gone just as quickly. She lets out a forced laugh.
"Ah, come on guys. It'd hardly be the first time that she got herself stuck somewhere." Thunder rumbles in the sky, and she glares upwards. "What? It's true!"
This girl is going to give Jason a heart attack.
Annabeth leans forward. "This is Jason's quest, so it's Jason's choice. Obviously, he's the Child of Lightning," The crowd seems to shrug in agreement. "And, the Child of Heartbreak..."
Annabeth looks over pointedly at Juliette, who sighs heavily. She scrubs her hands against her forehead in annoyance.
"I guess we only have one of those, don't we?" She mutters. The crowd shifts, and Jason looks around in confusion. The energy seems to have changed to deeply uncomfortable.
"I dunno," Someone shouts from the Vulcan group. "Drew breaks a lot of hearts."
"Zip it." Said girl snarls. The boy who spoke shrinks back behind his siblings.
Juliette smiles in amusement. "It's fine. Besides," She looks to Annabeth. "Two brothers or a past restored, she said."
The daughter of Athena's eyes widen. "Percy?"
"Maybe," nods Juliette. "It's possible, at least. If he's at the other end of this, I'll have to try."
The crowd responds enthusiastically with whistles and foot stamping. The reaction seems to make Juliette stand taller. Jason grins at her. Something about this responsibility feels a bit lighter to carry now.
"Who else, then?" Someone calls out. "It said four, right? So, two more."
Jason looks down in thought. "The forge and doves shall break the cage." He recites. "The forge is the symbol of Vul-Hephaestus."
Nyssa sits up, but her feet tap anxiously. "If you only have four days, you'll need air transport. And the flying chariot is broken." She cuts her eyes at Annabeth, who winces. Then, she turns her attention to Jason's quest partner. "Julie?"
"You think I'm gonna carry three people for four days? Yeah, right."
"That's what I figured." Nyssa sighs. "Maybe Cabin 9 can help figure something out. With Jake incapacitated, I'm senior counselor. So...I guess I can volunteer for this quest."
Jason frowns. She doesn't sound enthusiastic. The last thing he wants to do is force someone into this.
Luckily, or unluckily maybe, Leo seems to agree. He stands and meets Jason's gaze unflinchingly. "It's me."
"No." Juliette says firmly. Several of his siblings agree with her, trying to pull him back into his seat. Leo fights them off and steps forward.
"No, it's me. I know it is." He insists, brown curls bouncing. "I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try, I can fix this!"
Jason frowns. Then, he finds himself looking to his quest partner. She does not look pleased.
"You just got here, Leo." Juliette points out, crossing her arms. "You have no training."
"Actually," Nyssa pipes up. "He's already leaps and bounds ahead of most of us." She admits. Leo glows, and Nyssa rolls her eyes, addressing Juliette specifically. "He'll be an asset."
Juliette studies Leo for a moment. Then, she sighs, and turns to look at him instead. "Jason?"
His brain ceases to function for a split second when she says his name. Then, he realizes she's asking him for a decision. He looks to the son of Hephaestus. "Leo, we started this together. Seems only right you come along. Get us a ride, and you're in."
"Yes!" Leo pumps his fist.
"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warns. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. It's possible not all of you will come back alive."
Leo chokes. "Oh." He glances at Jason and Juliette and puffs his chest out. "I mean...Oh, cool. Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."
Juliette lets out a snort and buries her face in her hands, shaking her head incredulously. Annabeth sighs at Leo's antics.
"Okay, so that's three. The prophecy said doves - plural. I can only assume that means the last member is another child of-"
"Aphrodite!" Drew chirps. She's smirking, checking her cuticles. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours." She winks at Jason.
Juliette rolls her eyes beside him. "Yeah, alright. So, Leo and Drew-"
"No." Piper interrupts. Everyone goes silent and looks to her. Jason feels a little bad. He sort of forgot she was here.
Drew scoffs. "Oh, please, Dumpster Girl, back off."
"I had the vision of Hera, not you." Piper snaps. She turns to glare at Juliette, who is staring at her unreadably. "I have to do this."
"Piper," Juliette begins. "You aren't claimed yet-"
"No! I'm supposed to go." Piper insists.
Something in her voice sounds...right. She's right. Of course she is. Why are they hesitating? Jason looks to Juliette and is confused to see her shaking her head from side to side frantically. Does she have water in her ear?
Then, Juliette looks up, and there's a tinge of anger in her gaze. "You aren't claimed, Piper. You can't go on quests."
Piper looks like she's on the verge of tears. It's making Jason want to hug her. To hold her and make everything alright...Wait, what? No, he doesn't feel that way. Piper's his friend, but he just met her. She's practically a stranger.
Chiron's eyes look a little clearer than they did a moment ago. "Juliette is right, Piper. I'm sorry, but those are the rules."
Not a second after the centaur says this, a pink glowing dove appears in the sky above Piper's head.
Gasps ring out throughout the crowd.
Juliette looks like she's going to be sick.
Jason watches Piper notice the symbol and blanche, swiping a hand through it. "No! No way!" She denies, looking at the Cabin 10 section like it's filled with spiders.
Well, to be fair, Jason would take a spider over Drew Tanaka any day.
Chiron steps up to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "Hail, Piper McLean. Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of Love."
The campers look at one another in surprise, but settle off of their seats to bow. The only ones who remain standing are Jason and Juliette.
The latter is staring at Piper with a stricken expression, seemingly torn on how to feel. She clenches her fists. "This is great. It's good you've been claimed." She mumbles. Everyone turns to her. Juliette's gaze hardens. "You still aren't going."
Piper's eyes narrow dangerously. Jason takes a few steps back. He is not getting in the middle of this.
"And who are you to decide that? This is Jason's quest."
Great, now he's in the middle of it.
"I'm your Head Counselor." Juliette retorts. She steps forward so that she's looking down at her new sibling. "You haven't had a single day of training. If you think I'm letting a brand new camper go on a dangerous quest-"
"You aren't letting me do anything. I don't even know you-"
"The last time we sent a new camper to save a goddess, her brother lost the only family he had left." Juliette spits.
The snickering that had built up during their spat goes silent. Everyone's eyes are like dinner plates. They seem to be scared to move.
Then, in a shining display of light, Piper's form is enveloped by mist. Jason shields his eyes until the brightness dims, and when he looks back at the scene, Piper looks completely different. Her ripped jeans have been replaced by a gleaming white chiton, her long brown hair braided perfectly. Her eyes seem darker and her lips fuller. Jason glances around the crowd and sees most of the male population openly gaping.
He looks at Juliette instead. Her face is like stone.
"What?! What happened?" Piper squeaks, crossing her arms over her chest. She looks to her Head Counselor frantically for answers.
There's no expression on Juliette's face. But, there's a coldness in her eyes that Jason hasn't seen before. It looks wrong on her. It feels wrong.
She looks her sister up and down and scoffs, turning frigid eyes up to the sky. "Really, Mom?!" She hisses.
Piper blinks in confusion. "What is it? This isn't me-I don't understand."
The crowd shifts uncomfortably as Juliette lets out a humorless laugh. "It seems Mother Dearest has overruled me. Welcome aboard, Piper. Drew will show you to Cabin 10."
With those biting words, Juliette turns on her heel and storms from the pavilion. Jason thinks he catches the gleam of a tear on her cheek before she turns a corner and disappears into the woods.