EDEN HATED IT HERE.
The tour was shit. She didn't even know what the fuck Camp Half-Blood looked like. Just because she spent the past like fifty years here doesn't mean that she had to know the place by heart.
Besides, the only places she had to know were her cabin, the mess hall, and the Big House where the car was so her, Connor, and Travis could commit arson.
Clearly Annabeth wasn't into the tour either, judging by the tears in her eyes and the way she disinterestedly described all of the amazing things in camp.
Amazing my ass, Eden thought bitterly. Her bitterness rose because of this stupid camp, making her blood run colder than it already did.
Annabeth explained how Camp Half-Blood was mostly a summer camp, but some kids stayed here year-round, and they'd added so many campers it was always crowded now, even in winter.
"Like Eden," Annabeth offered halfheartedly. "She hasn't been out since the middle of August."
Piper frowned at Eden. "Seriously?"
"You haven't been paying attention, Annabeth," Eden snorted. "Too caught up in your boyfriend. Did you not hear Chiron yelling at me and the twins? We commit arson at least once every week."
Annabeth glared at her. "I am not caught up in Percy."
"Look in a mirror and tell me you aren't," Eden retorted, going to leave, but Piper took her arm. Right. They needed to "talk".
"The valley is protected from mortal eyes," Annabeth rambled on, wiping at her eyes furiously. "As you can see, the weather is controlled, too. Each cabin represents a Greek god—a place for that god's children to live."
Eden turned to stare at Piper, but not in the way that she was before. She was staring at Piper to see what her reaction was. When Eden had figured out that her dad was a god, she'd freaked out and almost killed someone. Great times.
"You're saying Mom was a goddess." Piper said really slowly, and it sounded kind of hot. Shit, Eden was such a simp. She wanted to punch herself, or punch Piper, or punch Annabeth, whichever came first in annoying her.
Instead, Eden nodded at her before looking down at her horrid nails. She definitely needed to plan a mall trip with Connor — Travis never liked getting his nails painted. "You're taking this awfully calmly."
Piper took a shaky breath. "I guess after this morning, it's a little easier to believe. So who's my mom?"
"We should know soon," Annabeth said, explaining things as if she knew more than Eden did — she did, especially about the camp, but still. "You're what—fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal."
"The deal?"
"They made a promise last summer . . . well, long story . . . but they promised not to ignore their demigod children anymore, to claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. Should happen for you soon. Tonight at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."
Piper frowned, looking over at Eden, as if expecting that she would know shit. "Why thirteen?"
"The older you get," Annabeth said, and Eden thanked Beyoncé that Piper didn't make her talk. She only worshipped certain gods. "The more monsters notice you, try to kill you. 'Round thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into the schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."
"Like Coach Hedge?"
Eden nodded, glad that she at least knew something to some extent. "He's — he was a satyr: half man, half goat. Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right."
"What happened to him?" Piper asked. "When we went up into the clouds, did he . . . is he gone for good?"
"Hard to say." Annabeth's expression was pained, as she was thinking about Grover or something. Eden missed him. "Storm spirits . . . difficult to battle. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, will pass right through them unless you can catch them by surprise."
"Jason's sword just turned them to dust," Piper remembered.
"He was lucky, then. If you hit a monster just right, you can dissolve them, send their essence back to Tartarus."
"Tartarus?"
"A huge abyss in the Underworld, where the worst monsters come from. Kind of like a bottomless pit of evil. Anyway, once monsters dissolve, it usually takes months, even years before they can re-form again. But since this storm spirit Dylan got away—well, I don't know why he'd keep Hedge alive. Hedge was a protector, though. He knew the risks. Satyrs don't have mortal souls. He'll be reincarnated as a tree or a flower or something."
Piper tucked her hands into the pockets of her snowboarding jacket. Eden remembered how puffy and soft the jacket was.
"It'll be okay," Eden promised, smiling shakily at Piper. She wasn't used to being nice. "You'll make friends here. We've all been through a lot of weird stuff. We know what you're going through."
"I've been kicked out of five different schools the past five years," Piper said. "My dad's running out of places to put me."
"Only five?" Annabeth frowned, and Eden understood what the fuck she was saying for once. "Piper, we've all been labeled troublemakers. I ran away from home when I was seven."
"Seriously?" Piper gaped at Annabeth.
"Oh, yeah. Most of us are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or dyslexia, or both—"
"Leo's ADHD," Piper said.
"Right. It's because we're hardwired for battle. Restless, impulsive—we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Percy—" Annabeth's face darkened. "Anyway, demigods get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?"
"I steal stuff," Piper said. "Well, not really steal . . ."
"Is your family poor?" Eden grimaced. "Totally get that."
Piper laughed bitterly. "Not even. I did it . . . I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble."
Annabeth nodded. "I can relate. But you said you didn't really steal? What do you mean?"
"Well . . . nobody ever believes me. The police, teachers—even the people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed, they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things. And they give me stuff. Even a BMW convertible. I just asked. And the dealer said, 'Sure. Take it.' Later, he realized what he'd done, I guess. Then the police came after me."
Annabeth looked at Eden. Interesting.
So that's what Eden said. "If your dad were the god, I'd say you're a child of Hermes, god of thieves. He can be pretty convincing. Trav and Con sure are. But your dad is mortal..."
"Very," Piper agreed.
Annabeth shook her head, apparently mystified. "I don't know, then. With luck, your mom will claim you tonight."
Eden couldn't believe that Annabeth didn't know who this girl's mom was. Wow, Eden was so smart.
"Come on," Eden said, nodding up at the cave in the hill. She adored Rachel. "There's something else we need to check."
They hiked a little farther until they reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and old swords littered the ground. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered in a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes. It looked like the set for some kind of twisted puppet show. It was all Eden's decorating, with Rachel's insight.
"What's in there?" Piper asked.
Eden poked her head inside, then sighed and closed the curtains. "Nothing, right now. A friend's place. Annabeth had been expecting her for a few days, but so far, nothing. Or that's what she told me anyway. She hasn't visited my cabin yet, so . . ."
"Your friend lives in a cave?" Piper frowned.
Eden almost managed a smile. "Actually, her family has a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut. But when she's here at camp, yeah, she lives in the cave, or in my cabin. She's our oracle, tells the future. Annabeth was hoping she could help her—"
"Find Percy," Piper guessed.
All the energy drained out of Annabeth. She always held too much stuff in anyway and never let it out, but then again Eden did the same thing — except when she was too sleep deprived. Annabeth sat down on a rock, and her expression was so full of pain, it reminded Eden of...no, she couldn't remind herself of those times.
Eden followed Piper's gaze to Thalia's tree and the Golden Fleece.
"That's—a dragon," Piper stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"
Annabeth nodded, but it was clear she wasn't really listening. Her shoulders drooped. She rubbed her face and took a shaky breath. "Sorry. A little tired."
"You look ready to drop," Piper said. "How long have been searching for your boyfriend?"
"Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes."
Weak, Eden thought. She wanted to say it out loud, but she didn't say anything. Why would she need to anyway?
"And you've got no idea what happened to him?" Piper asked.
Annabeth shook her head miserably. "We were so excited because we both started winter break early. We met up at camp on Tuesday, figured we had three weeks together. It was going to be great. Then after the campfire, he—he kissed me good night, went back to his cabin, and in the morning, he was gone. Eden was sleeping over in another cabin with a couple of friends, so she couldn't have seen where he went. We searched the whole camp. We contacted his mom. We've tried to reach him every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared."
Piper frowned. "How long were you guys together?"
"Since August," Annabeth said. "August eighteenth."
"Almost exactly when I met Jason," Piper said. "But we've only been together a few weeks."
Eden winced, remembering the time when she'd thought her friend was her friend, when he wasn't. "Piper . . . about that. Maybe you should sit down."
Piper looked panicked as she looked at Eden. "Look, I know Jason thought — he thought he just appeared at our school today. But that's not true. I've known him for four months."
"Piper," Eden said slowly, hoping it was half as hot as Piper's voice. "It's the Mist."
"Missed . . . what?"
"M-i-s-t. It's a kind of veil separating the mortal world from the magic world. Mortal minds — they can't process strange stuff like gods and monsters, so the Mist bends reality. It makes mortals see things in a way they can understand — like their eyes might just skip over this valley completely, or they might look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."
Piper swallowed. "No. You both said yourself I'm not a regular mortal. I'm a demigod."
"Even demigods can be affected. I've seen it lots of times — it's even happened to me. Monsters infiltrate some place like a school, pass themselves off as human, and everyone thinks they remember that person. They believe he's always been around. The Mist can change memories, even create memories of things that never happened—"
"But Jason's not a monster!" Piper insisted. "He's a human guy, or demigod, or whatever you want to call him. My memories aren't fake. They're so real. The time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire. The time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof and I finally got the stupid guy to kiss me . . ."
She was rambling about her time at the Wilderness School with Jason, and it nearly broke Eden's heart . . . like, a lot.
Then again, the rules broke for no one. Even if a bad rule was no rule.
Annabeth pursed her lips. "Piper, your memories are a lot sharper than most. I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is. But if you know him so well—"
"I do!"
"Then where is he from?" Eden asked harshly.
Piper frowned, and there was some sort of broken glint in her eyes. "He must have told me, but—"
"Did you ever notice his tattoo before today? Did he ever tell you anything about his parents, or his friends, or his last school?"
"I — I don't know, but—"
"Piper, what's his last name?"
Piper started to cry. She fell into Eden's arms and she stumbled over the girl's weight, but she wrapped her arms around Piper. Shit, shit, shit, what was she supposed to do? She was used to crying all of the time, not comforting someone who was crying.
"Hey," Annabeth said, saving Eden from being more embarrassed as if she couldn't be any more embarrassed. "We'll figure it out. Jason's here now. Who knows? Maybe it'll work out with you guys for real."
Piper brushed a tear from her cheek. "You two brought me up here so no one would see me blubbering, huh?"
Annabeth shrugged. "I figured it would be hard for you. I know what it's like to lose your boyfriend."
She looked at Eden. Eden scrunched up her nose at her and shook her head. If Piper wasn't here, Eden would've stuck up the bird. she didn't want to think about Silena.
"But I still can't believe . . . I know we had something. And now it's just gone, like he doesn't even recognize me. If he really did just show up today, then why? How'd he get there? Why can't he remember anything?" Piper ranted on, and frankly Eden just didn't care.
"Good questions," Annabeth said. "Hopefully Chiron can figure that out. But for now, we need to get you settled. You ready to go back down?"
"Yeah," Piper said a little too quickly. That's sus. "I'm ready."