[act one; chapter eleven - sweet reunions]
"Well, that can't be good." Andromeda's words were full of dry sarcasm as of late, and just because they were possibly about to die, did not mean she was about to stop.
"Wolves," Piper said. "They sound close."
Jason rose and summoned his sword. Leo and Coach Hedge got to their feet too. Piper tried, but black spots danced before her eyes.
"Stay there," Jason told her. "We'll protect you."
Andromeda patted her shoulder with a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm used to this. Just stay here, let us handle this. It'll be alright."
The redhead pulled Mania from her finger, and the sword materialised in her hand as it had every time before. But there was something about holding it then, that felt strange. Off. As she looked down at the hilt, there was a faint gold glow, and when she looked towards Jason, he was looking back at her. On the hilt of his sword was an amethyst glow, just like on Riptide.
With a heavy sigh, attempting to push her feelings and wandering thoughts away, she looked up and saw a pair of red eyes glowing in the dark.
More wolves edged into the firelight—black beasts bigger than Great Danes, with ice and snow caked on their fur. Their fangs gleamed, and their glowing red eyes looked disturbingly intelligent. The wolf in front was almost as tall as a horse, his mouth stained as if he'd just made a fresh kill.
As Andromeda stepped up to his side, Jason said something in Latin. It took her a moment to understand, her mind still fuzzy from using her powers earlier that day. And the alpha wolf did not like what he had said. The fur stood up along his spine. One of his lieutenants tried to advance, but the alpha wolf snapped at his ear. Then all of the wolves backed into the dark.
"Dude, I gotta study Latin." Leo's hammer shook in his hand. "What'd you say, Jason?"
Hedge cursed. "Whatever it was, it wasn't enough. Look."
The wolves were coming back, but the alpha wolf wasn't with them. They didn't attack. They waited—at least a dozen now, in a rough semicircle just outside the firelight, blocking the cave exit.
The coach hefted his club. "Here's the plan. I'll kill them all, and you guys escape."
"Coach, they'll rip you apart," Piper said.
"Nah, I'm good."
Then Andromeda saw the silhouette of a man coming through the storm, wading through the wolf pack. She took a step forward, positioning herself slightly in front of Jason just in case, Mania hanging by her side.
"Stick together," Jason said. "They respect a pack. And Hedge, no crazy stuff. We're not leaving you or anyone else behind."
The wolves parted, and the man stepped into the firelight. His hair was greasy and ragged, the colour of fireplace soot, topped with a crown of what looked like finger bones. His robes were tattered fur—wolf, rabbit, raccoon, deer, and several others she couldn't identify. The furs didn't look cured, and from the smell, they weren't very fresh. His frame was lithe and muscular, like a distance runners. But the most horrible thing was his face. His thin pale skin was pulled tight over his skull. His teeth were sharpened like fangs. His eyes glowed bright red like his wolves'—and they fixed on Jason and Andromeda with absolute hatred.
"Ecce," he said, "filli Romani."
"Speak English, wolf man!" Hedge bellowed.
The wolf man snarled. "Tell your faun to mind his tongue, son and daughter of Rome. Or he'll be my first snack."
"Verba tua, lupus." Andromeda snapped at him. "Terga sursum."
The wolf man studied their little group. His nostrils twitched. "So it's true," he mused. "A child of Aphrodite. A son of Hephaestus. A faun. And a child of Rome, of Lord Jupiter, no less. And another, a daughter of Lord Bacchus, and a powerful one at that. The most. All together, without killing each other. How interesting."
"You were told about us?" Jason asked. "By whom?"
The man snarled—perhaps a laugh, perhaps a challenge. "Oh, we've been patrolling for you all across the west, demigods, hoping we'd be the first to find you both. The giant king will reward me well when he rises. I am Lycaon, king of the wolves. And my pack is hungry."
The wolves snarled in the darkness.
Out of the corner of her eye, Andromeda saw Leo put up his hammer and slip something else from his tool belt—a glass bottle full of clear liquid.
Lycaon glared at Jason's sword, and then they flickered towards Andromeda's, and his gaze narrowed even more. He moved to each side as if looking for an opening, but their blades moved with him, almost in sync as if they had done it dozens of times before.
"Leave," Jason ordered. "There's no food for you here."
"Unless you want tofu burgers," Leo offered.
Lycaon bared his fangs. Apparently he wasn't a tofu fan.
"If I had my way," Lycaon said with regret, "I'd kill you first, son of Jupiter. Your father made me what I am. I was the powerful mortal king of Arcadia, with fifty fine sons, and Zeus slew them all with his lightning bolts."
"Ha," Coach Hedge said. "For good reason!"
Jason glanced over his shoulder. "Coach, you know this clown?"
"I do," Piper answered. The details of the myth came back to her—a short, horrible story she and her father had laughed at over breakfast. She wasn't laughing now.
"Lycaon invited Zeus to dinner," she said. "But the king wasn't sure it was really Zeus. So to test his powers, Lycaon tried to feed him human flesh. Zeus got outraged—"
"And killed my sons!" Lycaon howled. The wolves behind him howled too.
"So Zeus turned him into a wolf," Piper said. "They call...they call werewolves lycanthropes, named after him, the first werewolf."
"Well, it looks like ol' Zeus-y boy likes turning people into other things. Trees, wolves."
"The king of wolves," Coach Hedge finished. "An immortal, smelly, vicious mutt."
Lycaon growled. "I will tear you apart, faun!"
"Oh, you want some goat, buddy? 'Cause I'll give you goat. "
"Stop it," Jason said. "Lycaon, you said you wanted to kill me first, but..."
"Sadly, Child of Rome, you are spoken for, as well as your Aristos Achaion friend, the daughter of Bacchus. Since this one" —he waggled his claws at Piper—"has failed to kill you, you are to be delivered alive to the Wolf House. One of my compatriots has asked for the honour of killing you herself."
"Who?" Jason said.
The wolf king snickered. "Oh, a great admirer of yours. Apparently, you made quite an impression on her. She will take care of you soon enough, and really I cannot complain. Spilling your blood at the Wolf House should mark my new territory quite well. Lupa will think twice about challenging my pack."
Piper struggled to her feet behind them. Spots danced before her eyes again. The cave seemed to spin.
"You're going to leave now," Piper said, "before we destroy you."
Clearly she tried to put power into the words, but she was too weak. Shivering in her blankets, pale and sweaty and barely able to hold a knife, she couldn't have looked very threatening.
Lycaon's red eyes crinkled with humour. "A brave try, girl. I admire that. Perhaps I'll make your end quick. Only the son of Jupiter and daughter of Baccus are needed alive. The rest of you, I'm afraid, are dinner."
Andromeda let out a small giggle, "Ha-ha. That's likely wolf boy. The only way you're getting to them is through the both of us."
Lycaon howled and extended his claws. Jason slashed at him, but his golden sword passed straight through as if the wolf king wasn't there.
Lycaon laughed. "Gold, bronze, steel—none of these are any good against my wolves, son of Jupiter."
"Silver!" Piper cried. "Aren't werewolves hurt by silver?"
"We don't have any silver!" Jason said.
"I do!" Andromeda shouted excitedly. She put Mania back on her finger, and clicked her wrists together. Her bow and quiver of arrows appeared in her hands and she pulled a silver arrow out, aiming at the first wolf that charged in her direction.
More wolves leapt into the firelight. Hedge charged forward with an elated "Woot!"
But Leo struck first. He threw his glass bottle and it shattered on the ground, splattering liquid all over the wolves—the unmistakable smell of gasoline. He shot a burst of fire at the puddle, and a wall of flames erupted.
Wolves yelped and retreated, and Andromeda took the opportunity to fire arrow after arrow, shooting as many as she could. Several caught fire and had to run back into the snow. Even Lycaon looked uneasily at the barrier of flames now separating his wolves from the demigods.
"Aw, c'mon," Coach Hedge complained. "I can't hit them if they're way over there."
Every time a wolf came closer, Leo shot a new wave of fire from his hands, but each effort seemed to make him a little more tired, and the gasoline was already dying down. "I can't summon any more gas!" Leo warned. Then his face turned red. "Wow, that came out wrong. I mean the burning kind. Gonna take the tool belt a while to recharge. What you got, man?"
"Nothing," Jason said. "Not even a weapon that works."
"Lightning?" Piper asked.
Jason concentrated, but nothing happened. "I think the snowstorm is interfering, or something. Dom?"
"Running out of arrows, it'll take a while to refill, just like Leo's belt!" The redhead yelled back.
"Unleash the venti!" Piper said.
"Then we'll have nothing to give Aeolus," Jason said. "We'll have come all this way for nothing."
Lycaon laughed. "I can smell your fear. A few more minutes of life, heroes. Pray to whatever gods you wish. Zeus did not grant me mercy, and you will have none from me."
The flames began to sputter out. Jason cursed and dropped his sword. He crouched like he was ready to go hand-to-hand. Leo pulled his hammer out of his pack and Andromeda sheathed Mania once again. Piper raised her dagger—not much, but it was all she had. Coach Hedge hefted his club, and he was the only one who looked excited about dying.
Then a ripping sound cut through the wind—like a piece of tearing cardboard. A long stick sprouted from the neck of the nearest wolf—the shaft of a silver arrow. The wolf writhed and fell, melting into a puddle of shadow.
A relieved laugh fell from Andromeda's lips, and she grinned happily.
More arrows. More wolves fell. The pack broke in confusion. An arrow flashed toward Lycaon, but the wolf king caught it in midair. Then he yelled in pain. When he dropped the arrow, it left a charred, smoking gash across his palm. Another arrow caught him in the shoulder, and the wolf king staggered.
"Curse them!" Lycaon yelled. He growled at his pack, and the wolves turned and ran. Lycaon fixed Jason and Andromeda with those glowing red eyes. "This isn't over, children of Rome."
The wolf king disappeared into the night.
Seconds later, Andromeda heard more wolves baying, but the sound was different—less threatening, more like hunting dogs on the scent. A smaller white wolf burst into the cave, followed by two more.
Hedge said, "Kill it?"
"No!" Andromeda said urgently. "Wait."
The wolves tilted their heads and studied the campers with huge golden eyes.
A heartbeat later, their masters appeared: a troop of hunters in white-and-grey winter camouflage, at least half a dozen. All of them carried bows, with quivers of glowing silver arrows on their backs.
Their faces were covered with parka hoods, but clearly they were all girls. One, a little taller than the rest, crouched in the firelight and snatched up the arrow that had wounded Lycaon's hand.
"So close." She turned to her companions. "Phoebe, stay with me. Watch the entrance. The rest of you, follow Lycaon. We can't lose him now. I'll catch up with you."
The other hunters mumbled agreement and disappeared, heading after Lycaon's pack.
The girl in white turned toward them, her face still hidden in her parka hood. "We've been following that demon's trail for over a week. Is everyone alright? No one got bit?"
Jason stood frozen, staring at the girl. Andromeda could help the delighted laugh that left her lips.
"You're her," Piper guessed. "You're Thalia."
The girl tensed. Piper was afraid she might draw her bow, but instead she pulled down her parka hood. Her hair was spiky black, with a silver tiara across her brow. Her face had a super-healthy glow to it, as if she were a little more than human, and her eyes were brilliant blue. She was the girl from Jason's photograph.
"Do I know you?" Thalia asked.
Piper took a breath. "This might be a shock, but—"
"Thalia." Jason stepped forward, his voice trembling. "I'm Jason, your brother."
—🌩—
For a minute, Jason and Thalia faced each other, stunned. Then Thalia rushed forward and hugged him.
"My gods! She told me you were dead!" She gripped Jason's face and seemed to be examining everything about it. "Thank Artemis, it is you. That little scar on your lip—you tried to eat a stapler when you were two!"
Andromeda burst out laughing, drawing Thalia's attention to her.
Leo laughed. "Seriously?"
Hedge nodded like he approved of Jason's taste. "Staplers—excellent source of iron."
"W-wait," Jason stammered. "Who told you I was dead? What happened?"
At the cave entrance, one of the white wolves barked. Thalia looked back at the wolf and nodded, but she kept her hands on Jason's face, like she was afraid he might vanish. "My wolf is telling me I don't have much time, and she's right. But we have to talk. Let's sit."
"Um, hello, hug please? Attention please?" Andromeda teased. Thalia ran into her arms, and the two swayed slightly on their heels. They whispered back and forth between each other, and when the daughter of Zeus shook her head, Andromeda knew she had not found Percy.
Piper, on the other hand, practically collapsed to the floor. If it hadn't been for Coach Hedge, she would have.
Thalia rushed over. "What's wrong with her? Ah—never mind. I see. Hypothermia. Ankle." She frowned at the satyr. "Don't you know nature healing?"
Hedge scoffed. "Why do you think she looks this good? Can't you smell the Gatorade?"
Thalia turned to Andromeda, silently asking a question. The redhead shrugged, and murmured, "I did my best, though that doesn't appear to be much as of late."
Thalia looked at Leo for the first time, and regarded him with a hard, accusatory glare.
"You and the satyr," Thalia ordered, "take this girl to my friend at the entrance. Phoebe's an excellent healer."
"It's cold out there!" Hedge said. "I'll freeze my horns off."
But Leo knew when they weren't wanted. "Come on, Hedge. These two need time to talk."
"Humph. Fine," the satyr muttered. "Didn't even get to brain anybody."
Hedge carried Piper toward the entrance and Leo followed. As he went, Andromeda wrapped an arm around his shoulder, and sighed. But as they were about to leave, Jason called "Actually, guys, could you two, um, stick around?"
The two demigods shared a grin, and spun on their heels in unison.
Leo grinned. "Sticking around is my specialty."
Thalia didn't look too happy about it—Leo staying, Andromeda, however, she was fine with—but the four of them sat at the fire. For a few minutes, nobody spoke. Jason studied his sister like she was a scary device—one that might explode if handled incorrectly. Thalia seemed more at ease, as if she was used to stumbling across stranger things than long-lost relatives. But still she regarded Jason in a kind of amazed trance, maybe remembering a little two-year-old who tried to eat a stapler. Leo took a few pieces of copper wire out of his pockets and twisted them together. Andromeda, on the other hand, just looked between the two siblings with a dazed smile on her face, but it didn't quite reach her eyes, Leo realised, and he wondered why. She almost seemed...envious.
Finally, Leo couldn't stand the silence. "So...the Hunters of Artemis. This whole 'not dating' thing—is that like always, or more of a seasonal thing, or what?"
Thalia stared at him as if he'd just evolved from pond scum. Yeah, he was definitely liking this girl.
Andromeda groaned and shook her head, laying it against Thalia's shoulder.
Jason kicked him in the shin. "Don't mind Leo. He's just trying to break the ice. But, Thalia...what happened to our family? Who told you I was dead?"
Thalia tugged at a silver bracelet on her wrist. In the firelight, in her winter camouflage, she almost looked like Khione the snow princess—just as cold and beautiful.
"Do you remember anything?" she asked.
Jason shook his head. "I woke up three days ago on a bus with Leo and Piper."
"Which wasn't our fault," Leo added hastily. "Hera stole his memories."
Thalia tensed. "Hera? How do you know that?"
Jason explained about their quest—the prophecy at camp, Hera getting imprisoned, the giant taking Piper's dad, and the winter solstice deadline. Leo chimed in to add the important stuff: how he'd fixed the bronze dragon, could throw fireballs, and made excellent tacos. And then Andromeda added the little, yet important details that they had both forgotten.
Thalia was a good listener. Nothing seemed to surprise her—the monsters, the prophecies, the dead rising. But when they mentioned King Midas, she cursed in Ancient Greek.
"I knew we should've burned down his mansion," she said. "That man's a menace. But we were so intent on following Lycaon—Well, I'm glad you got away. So Hera's been...what, hiding you all these years?"
"I don't know." Jason brought out the photo from his pocket. "She left me just enough memory to remember a name: Zara. And to recognise your face."
Thalia looked at the picture, and her expression softened. "I'd forgotten about that. I left it in Cabin One, didn't I?"
Jason nodded. "I think Hera wanted for us to meet. When we landed here, at this cave...I had a feeling it was important. Like I knew you were close by. Is that crazy?"
"Nah," Leo assured him. "We were absolutely destined to meet your hot sister."
Naturally, Andromeda sent him a shake of her head, and Thalia ignored him.
"Jason," she said, "when you're dealing with the gods, nothing is too crazy. But you can't trust Hera, especially since we're children of Zeus. She hates all children of Zeus."
"But she said something about Zeus giving her my life as a peace offering. Does that make any sense?"
The colour drained from Thalia's face. "Oh, gods. Mother wouldn't have...You don't remember—No, of course you don't."
"What?" Jason asked.
Thalia's features seemed to grow older in the firelight, like her immortality wasn't working so well. "Jason...I'm not sure how to say this. Our mom wasn't exactly stable. She caught Zeus's eye because she was a television actress, and she was beautiful, but she didn't handle the fame well. She drank, pulled stupid stunts. She was always in the tabloids. She could never get enough attention. Even before you were born, she and I argued all the time. She...she knew Dad was Zeus, and I think that was too much for her to take. It was like the ultimate achievement for her to attract the lord of the sky, and she couldn't accept it when he left. The thing about the gods...well, they don't hang around."
Andromeda knew her mother had felt relatively the same way after her father didn't come back. Of course that only lasted several weeks after she and Donnie were born. Dionysus loved her mother, he loved her, but he also loved his wife, Ariadne, and he hated betraying her in the way that he had. But one thing he loved more than both Gianna Storm and Ariadne were his children. He would die for them, should that ever be necessary. He loved Andromeda, he loved Adonis; he loved Pollux and Castor. They were his pride and joy, and now only two of them were left. But even then, with all of that sorrow and guilt and anger and sadness, Dionysus loved, and it angered him beyond what he thought possible when he was told he could not be in his children's lives. But in Dionysus fashion (much like his children) he wasn't good at listening to rules, and had become a prominent figure in their lives, even if it resulted in him having to spend more time at Camp Half-Blood. That was how much he loved his children—that was how loyal he was to their mortal parents and to them.
Andromeda watched Jason's face—looking more and more devastated as Thalia described their mom. She might have lost her mom. She might have had some hard times. But at least she remembered her mother. But the more she thought, she remembered Donnie's words, saying they weren't really born in Louisiana—at least that's what she assumed he was trying to say. So really, how much had she truly known her mother?
"So...?" Jason didn't seem able to finish the question.
"Jason, you got friends," Leo told him. "Now you got a sister. You're not alone."
Thalia offered her hand, and Jason took it.
"When I was about seven," she said, "Zeus started visiting Mom again. I think he felt bad about wrecking her life, and he seemed—different somehow. A little older and sterner, more fatherly toward me. For a while, Mom improved. She loved having Zeus around, bringing her presents, causing the sky to rumble. She always wanted more attention. That's the year you were born. Mom...well, I never got along with her, but you gave me a reason to hang around. You were so cute. And I didn't trust Mom to look after you. Of course, Zeus eventually stopped coming by again. He probably couldn't stand Mom's demands anymore, always pestering him to let her visit Olympus, or to make her immortal or eternally beautiful. When he left for good, Mom got more and more unstable. That was about the time the monsters started attacking me. Mom blamed Hera. She claimed the goddess was coming after you too—that Hera had barely tolerated my birth, but two demigod children from the same family was too big an insult. Mom even said she hadn't wanted to name you Jason, but Zeus insisted, as a way to appease Hera because the goddess liked that name. I didn't know what to believe."
Andromeda felt like she was intruding, and apparently so did Leo. He looked at her anxiously, and she merely shrugged. Growing uneasy, he asked, "How did you guys get separated?"
Thalia squeezed her brother's hand. "If I'd known you were alive...gods, things would've been so different. But when you were two, Mom packed us in the car for a family vacation. We drove up north, toward the wine country, to this park she wanted to show us. I remember thinking it was strange because Mom never took us anywhere, and she was acting super nervous. I was holding your hand, walking you toward this big building in the middle of the park, and..." She took a shaky breath. "Mom told me to go back to the car and get the picnic basket. I didn't want to leave you alone with her, but it was only for a few minutes. When I came back...Mom was kneeling on the stone steps, hugging herself and crying. She said—she said you were gone. She said Hera claimed you and you were as good as dead. I didn't know what she'd done. I was afraid she'd completely lost her mind. I ran all over the place looking for you, but you'd just vanished. She had to drag me away, kicking and screaming. For the next few days I was hysterical. I don't remember everything, but I called the police on Mom and they questioned her for a long time. Afterward, we fought. She told me I'd betrayed her, that I should support her, like she was the only one who mattered. Finally I couldn't stand it. Your disappearance was the last straw. I ran away from home, and I never went back, not even when Mom died a few years ago. I thought you were gone forever. I never told anyone about you—not even Annabeth or Luke, my two best friends. It was just too painful."
"Chiron knew." Jason's voice sounded far away. "When I got to camp, he took one look at me and said, 'You should be dead.'"
"That doesn't make sense," Thalia insisted. "I never told him."
"Hey," Leo said. "Important thing is you've got each other now, right? You two are lucky."
Thalia nodded. "Leo's right. Look at you. You're my age. You've grown up."
"But where have I been?" Jason said. "How could I be missing all that time? And the Roman stuff..."
Thalia frowned. "The Roman stuff?"
"Your brother speaks Latin," Leo said. "He calls gods by their Roman names, and he's got tattoos." Leo pointed out the marks on Jason's arm. Then he gave Thalia the rundown about the other weird stuff that had happened: Boreas turning into Aquilon, Lycaon calling Jason a "child of Rome," and the wolves backing off when Jason spoke Latin to them.
Thalia plucked her bowstring. "Latin. Zeus sometimes spoke Latin, the second time he stayed with Mom. Like I said, he seemed different, more formal."
"You think he was in his Roman aspect?" Jason asked. "And that's why I think of myself as a child of Jupiter?"
"Possibly," Thalia said. "I've never heard of something like that happening, but it might explain why you think in Roman terms, why you can speak Latin rather than Ancient Greek. That would make you unique. Still, it doesn't explain how you've survived without Camp Half-Blood. A child of Zeus, or Jupiter, or whatever you want to call him—you would've been hounded by monsters. If you were on your own, you should've died years ago. I know I wouldn't have been able to survive without friends. You would've needed training, a safe haven—"
"He wasn't alone," Leo blurted out. "We've heard about others like him."
Thalia looked at him strangely. "What do you mean?"
Leo told her about the slashed-up purple shirt in Medea's department store, and the story the Cyclopes told about the child of Mercury who spoke Latin. Then he and Jason both looked at Andromeda who, albeit reluctantly, explained her new situation. The headaches, the voices, the dreams in places she didn't recognise, yet did all at the same time. She felt—and to the others, looked—more lost than ever.
"Isn't there anywhere else for demigods?" Leo asked. "I mean besides Camp Half-Blood? Maybe some crazy Latin teacher has been abducting children of the gods or something, making them think like Romans."
As soon as he said it, Leo realized how stupid the idea sounded. Thalia's dazzling blue eyes studied him intently, making him feel like a suspect in a lineup.
"I've been all over the country," Thalia mused. "I've never seen evidence of a crazy Latin teacher, or demigods in purple shirts. Still..." Her voice trailed off, like she'd just had a troubling thought.
"What?" Jason asked.
Thalia shook her head. "I'll have to talk to the goddess. Maybe Artemis will guide us."
"She's still talking to you?" Jason asked. "Most of the gods have gone silent."
"Artemis follows her own rules," Thalia said. "She has to be careful not to let Zeus know, but she thinks Zeus is being ridiculous closing Olympus. She's the one who set us on the trail of Lycaon. She said we'd find a lead to a missing friend of ours."
"Percy Jackson," Leo guessed. "The guy everyone is looking for."
Thalia nodded, her face full of concern, as she looked at Andromeda. The girl had looked down, pulling and fidgeting with a simple gold necklace that hung around her neck. She looked up suddenly, "I've always been able to understand and speak Latin, Thals. Donnie, too."
"So what would Lycaon have to do with it?" Leo asked. "And how does it connect to us?"
"We need to find out soon," Thalia admitted. "If your deadline is tomorrow, we're wasting time. Aeolus could tell you—"
The white wolf appeared again at the doorway and yipped insistently.
"I have to get moving." Thalia stood. "Otherwise I'll lose the other Hunters' trail. First, though, I'll take you to Aeolus's palace."
"If you can't, it's okay," Jason said, though he sounded kind of distressed.
"Oh, please." Thalia smiled and helped him up. "I haven't had a brother in years. I think I can stand a few minutes with you before you get annoying. Now, let's go!"
Okay, so I don't know Latin, and used google translate for that. Sorry if it's wrong, I'm definitely open to corrections and stuff like that at any time!
Well, the story is beginning to pick up, finally, and I'm super anxious to move onto the next act because PERCY and of course, this official introduction to Miss Zara March.
Anywho, that's all I have to say. Bye and thank you for reading!