Disclaimer: PJO isn't mine, blah blah blah blah blah
Jason's POV:
The second Jason heard the words 'wolf house' vibrate out of Piper's phone, he was hit with flashbacks.
"Miss Lupa, where are we?" Jason was young again, and looked scared. From his clothes, Jason knew it was within a similar time frame to the memory he'd seen when Dakota died.
In that memory, he'd been wearing the same blue shirt and jeans he was now. He'd been with Lupa that time too, but not in the park he was right now. In that memory, he'd been in a white hall, before he met Dakota, in a somewhat cozier room.
"This is where you will be staying." Lupa was a grand woman, with long dark hair that was always braided and silvery blue eyes that were scarily observant. She often wore a furry coat and thigh high boots.
Even though it had only been a few days since he'd met her, he already immediately knew when she was near. He could always tell by that distinct smell that clung around her. It was like wet fur, that damp smell of the dirty becoming clean, the evil becoming purified.
"Oh," was all Young Jason said. Waves of confusion practically wafted off of him. He'd been staying in a different building for the last few days, ever since Lupa had taken him in.
"This is the Wolf House," Lupa said. She put her hand on the wooden door, and took one of the carved petals in her hand, twisting it. It popped open, and she took out a golden key with the letters of SPQR intertwined with each other on the handle.
"Jason, are you okay?" was all Jason needed to be knocked out of it.
He stared into the bluest eyes he'd ever seen.... oh wait, that was the sky. His senses returned, and he realized that he was on the gravel.
"Ow," he groaned as he got up.
Percy put an arm around his waist and helped him up. "What did you see?"
"I think I kind of saw where the Wolf House is-" Everything that had happened before the flashbacks came back to him. "Wait, where's Piper?"
"With Leo, getting the car," Percy said. "Annabeth and I are going to use her car, and Frank and Hazel are in the middle of an experiment, so we'll leave them behind. You said you know where to go?"
"Um, yeah, go to the park by the New York Airport." (this probably doesn't exist, btw, just made up)
"Okay, do you want to ride with Leo and Piper, or Annabeth and me?" Percy said. Annabeth pulled up in a grey car, and Percy kissed her on the cheek briefly as he got in.
Even in a crisis they were cute.
Yeah.... no. He didn't want to third-wheel.
"I'll go with Leo and Piper," Jason said.
Annabeth just nodded and hit the brakes, zooming off towards danger.
The car ride was silent, thick with apprehension as they got closer and closer to the Wolf House. It didn't help that Festus was pretty creaky and slow. Each groan made Jason cringe a little.
When they got to the Wolf House, Leo barely parked in the space, but they got out anyway. Piper grabbed Jason's hand and pulled him forward. Her eyes were frenzied with panic, but she looked beautiful as ever. Something about that look seemed eerily familiar, in a way that Jason couldn't quite place.
"Where's Annabeth and Percy?" Leo puffed out, holding a hammer.
Jason grabbed his gun as he ran towards the white building. "Do you see them?"
In the quick glance he'd gotten when they parked and everything he was seeing as he was running, Annabeth and Percy had not been there.
"Nope!" Piper said. "We'll find them later, after we rescue my dad from whatever is going on."
Her voice was frantic, but she somehow didn't shake. Jason was amazed by her calmness in such a situation.
Jason was the first to reach the building. He tried to open the elaborately carved door, but it was locked. He pounded it on it desperately, until he remembered something.
"How do we open the door?" Piper said.
Jason felt his way along the wood, until he found the flower that held the extra key. He squeezed one of the petals, revealing the golden key that Lupa had presented to him, once upon a time. The key was a bit tarnished, but the letters were still clear. And that was when Jason gasped. He pulled up his coat and shirt sleeve, revealing the tattoo he'd forgotten about. He looked in between them, not believing his eyes, but there they were. The same letters.
A voice washed over him, cold and firm.
"Stay there, Jason. Don't make me hold you down."
Jason was wiggling, trying to get out of the firm hold on his arms, but the grip was too strong.
"Why?" he cried out.
Lupa turned towards him. Her dark hair was piled atop her head in a 50's style bouffant, and silver earrings dangled from her ears. She wore a silver dress as always. She looked so normal, which Jason didn't like. How could she normalize this?
"It's our welcome into the group." She bent down and touched his shoulders, fingers cool to the touch. "It won't hurt, as long as you are brave, little warrior."
But even though Jason tried to be the bravest he could be, it was impossible. The tattoo sent searing pain throughout his arm, and it was all Jason could do to not scream in pain. But he locked his jaw, and tried to be brave.
"Jason, are you going to open the door?"
The past washed away, and he saw the present again. He stared at the door and the key in his hand, Piper and Leo in his peripheral vision.
Jason tried to shake away the chills. "Um, yeah."
He twisted the key in the lock, and opened the door.
Piper seemed to come to the same realization as him. "Wait, aren't those the same letters as your tattoo?"
"It is." Jason rolled up the sleeve of his coat, showing the eagle and letters tattoo.
Leo peered at it closely. "Hm, that's weird. The key doesn't have the lines or the eagle. And what do the letters stand for? Sometimes pigeons questionably rally?"
Jason laughed. "Um, no. I don't think so."
"We should probably go inside, guys," Piper said.
Jason looked down, dreading it. "Yeah, I guess we should."
Piper smiled at him, then went in first. Leo went next, fiddling with some helicopter looking toy he'd made. Jason was last. He claimed it was for holding the door.... but really, he was just scared. He knew that this white building had been his home for years, and he wasn't really excited to back in.
Piper's parents could be there, he had to remind himself. So could Hera and Athena.
So, he forced himself to walk inside. One step after another.
As soon as he stepped inside, he heard the hungry gurgle of water and smelt the pure smell of that was so familiar. His eyes were greeted by a river. The depths were dark and waves were choppy.
"How do we get across it?" Piper said, her eyes locked on the wide strip of water.
"It shouldn't be too deep to get across," Jason said, remembering the first time he'd arrived. He stepped into the water, finding hard ground just a few feet down, and the water only went up to his waist.
Piper stepped in beside him and started walking across, quicker than Jason. Leo jumped in, splashing the banks. Jason immediately looked to the door and all around them, hoping that nobody was about to jump out at them, and luckily, no one did.
Never the less, Jason started moving faster through the frigid waters, eventually reaching the other side. Piper helped him up, and he shivered in the cold air, being soaked to the bone.
Leo dragged himself out a moment later, his clothes dripping with water, and his skin speckled with water, but his little helicopter toy like machine still perfectly dry.
"Where are we?" Piper's voice echoed in the watery chamber.
"This is the entry hall," Jason said, remembering coming through here so many times.
Leo shivered. "Not a very welcoming one."
Piper looked around. "I don't see any other paths. Is this a dead end?"
Too late, Jason remembered a feature that he had installed himself. Three people, each dressed in purple and gold stalked towards them, seemly appearing out of thin air.
"Where did they come from?" Piper said.
Jason's throat was too clogged up with fear to say anything, but in his mind, memories resurfaced. He remembered designing the panels himself. They hid entry guards, and he'd place them strategically. There were three placed around the river and four on the sides-
Thunk! Thunk! Jason turned just too late as Piper and Leo fell to the ground.
"Wha-" was all he managed to say before his head throbbed in pain after a hit, and he collapsed. The last thing he saw were purple and gold blurs, and a voice that was cold. "Welcome home, Grace."
So... hehe haven't updated in so long. I don't have an excuse besides the fact I've been going thru stuff. But... well, here we are! See you next time!