Prologue
The sun peeked through the clouds over the park. Thalia Grace walked hand in hand with her two year old brother, Jason. Her hair spiked up all over the place, with randomly coloured highlights brightening up the image. Her black shirt and black jeans looked ruffled.
Jason, on the other hand, was about 7 times smaller then his big sister. His blonde hair was pushed to the side, but tufts of it still drooped in front of his blue eyes.
In Thalia’s mind, something was wrong with Jason. He had the same personality as her, but he always looked more stern, even if they had the same parents.
Thalia always knew about Zeus being her daddy. The Sky God had revealed himself to their mother immediately. Still, Zeus had changed slightly when Jason had been born. He looked more violent and depressed. That was probably why Jason looked so worn out.
“Thalia, where are we going?” asked Jason. Even at two, his vocabulary was superb.
“To the park, Sparky.”
She addressed him by his nickname.
“Look, there is you Mother,” noted Thalia.
She spat the last word out. Needless to say, her mother and she did not have a great relationship.
Her mom was waiting in the middle of a park. She carried a picnic basket.
“Mommy!” squealed Jason, and he ran to give his mother a hug. Thalia stayed back and looked at the scene with disgust.
“Don’t be that way!” smiled Mrs. Grace.
“Silence, Mom!” snapped Thalia.
“Honey…” coaxed the irresponsible parent.
“Don’t honey me!” yelled Thalia.
“Ok, ok!” surrendered the mother.
She laid out the picnic items and then gave a gasp of surprise.
“Oh my goodness!” she said, her eyes widening. “I seem to have forgot the plates! Could you run over to the car and get them, Thalia?”
Thalia furrowed her brow. Rarely did Mother call her to her aid....something was wrong.
Still, she waved goodbye to Jason and jogged towards the car.
When she came back to the picnic site, she would find her mother screaming as a lady in a goat skin cloak picked up Jason and then teleported away.
Thalia’s brother had been kidnaped.
Chapter 1: Jason
Jason Grace did not wake up in a hip bedroom. In fact, the structure he slumbered on was nothing more then a rock carved into a cave. For him, however, this was luxurious.
Jason was not an ordinary child, and he knew it himself. Even though he had been barely exposed to the outside world, he could still figure out that ordinary children were not raised by wolves or trained with very pointy objects. He was also aware that normal children had two mortal parents. They got all the luck.
Jason was a son of a god. If he had been given permission to call himself one, he would’ve called himself Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. His lineage was painfully obvious, but Jupiter had never taken the time to ‘claim’ him, so it was not official.
Even the boy’s trainer, Lupa, knew that he was Jupiter’s child. She believed that he would be claimed when he first attended Camp Jupiter.
Lupa, the she-wolf, had acquired Jason a good ten years ago. She remembered the day clearly- the storm outside, the rain pounding the stone, the wind whispering it’s ancient warning. Lupa had been sharpening some swords in her human form when Juno had appeared in the entry way.
She had dropped a bundle near the door, in the freezing cold and beckoned for Lupa to approach.
“This is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter!” she had announced. “He is a peac offering from Mrs. Grace to me. Take care of him! He shall play a tremendous role in the events to come!”
She had then left without waiting for a reply. Lupa had raised Jason, the content of the bundle, with much care. She had harvested his power and trained him well. Now she awaited the day Juno would return and give the wolf consent to release Jason into the real world, where he would have to find his way to Camp Jupiter, which was the only safe place for Roman demigods.
Jason rubbed his eyes as he sat up straight.
“Lupa?” he yawned. “Did Juno come?”
“Is a wolf’s but green?” replied the wolf amusedly.
“Uhh…I don’t know, I have never been there..”
Lupa gagged.
“And you do not want to, my boy! Now get ready! Train harder and maybe Juno will let you to camp!”
Jason stayed on his bed.
“I don’t want to go to camp, Lupa,” he nodded.
“But Jason,” gasped Lupa. “You have worked for ten years in my service! You are ready for camp! You can become the greatest warrior ever!”
“No.”
“Jason,” coaxed the lady. “Every day, when you wake up, you ask me if Juno will let you go to camp. You want to go there, Grace!”
“I don’t want to go to camp! I want to be claimed! I want to have a father! I do not want to live like this! I don’t want my dad to ignore me!”
“The only way you are going to get claimed is if you go to camp!” explained Lupa.
“You know that is not true, Lupa,” spat Jason venomously.
Lupa was impressed. The boy was smarter then he looked.
That night, Lupa lay in her sleeping bag, thinking about Jason. Soon, he would be called to camp, and he would totally forget about Lupa. The problem was that the she-wolf was attached to the boy. She cared for him like a son.
“Is that how you feel, Lupa?” came a female voice from the entry way of the cave. Lupa gave a wry, heart-broken smile.
“Juno,” she said emotionlessly. “Come in.”
The goddess did so, her hulking form plopping into the only cushion in the dwelling.
“I take that you know why I am here?”
“Yes. Jason will be allowed into camp. Am I right?”
“Why, of course! I just have to give you official consent!”
“Why?” growled Lupa. “Why do we need YOUR consent?”
“You know very well why, Miss Wolf!” said Juno smugly.
“Because you are his patron! I know! But why? Why have you ruined his life? What about his family? What if he just wants to be normal!”
“Do not contradict me,” laughed Juno. “I am his patron, I decide what is right for him!”
“You are a snake, Juno!”
“HE IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!”
Lupa growled at the lady before her.
“Do you feel good, Juno?” she whispered. “You have ruined another kid’s life.”
Juno just shook her head.
“You will see, Lupa. Great evil approaches. Be prepared.”
With that, she handed a slip of paper to the wolf. Lupa grabbed it and snarled as Juno walked away.
That morning, Jason woke up to see Lupa in her human form. She stood beside his bed. He looked at her questionably.
Lupa just gave him a pitiful sigh and wordlessly handed him a slip of paper. Jason unravelled it, puzzled.
On the paper, in neat cursive writing, a clear message was printed.
“ I, Juno, the patron of Jason Grace, give my consent for the child to report to Camp Jupiter. "
Chapter 2: Jason
The sun was already half-covered in the horizon, illuminating the world in a pale orange. The waves quietly lapped over each other, making peaceful sounds. Birds chirped in the distance, and the crickets began their nightly song.
Jason, clad in nothing but jeans and a white shirt, sat atop a broken wall that was the Wolf House. He was waiting for Lupa. Once the wolf sent him off, he would be on his own, in the cruel world.
Alone.
Jason could write essays on the word, but at the same time, he did not understand it. All of his life, he had had Lupa watching over him. He was always in company. Lupa was his sole accomplice. Jason doubted that he would have been able to get through life without the compassionate wolf.
By the same token, however, Jason had an eternal feeling of loneliness. Perhaps it was because he never knew his family, or perhaps it was because he was so…so different.
Even by demigod standards, Jason was an oddball. For starters, the boy knew his godly parent, yet he had not been claimed, for reasons unknown. Secondly, he had trained with Lupa for a decade. Other heroes stayed for a month or so, and then it was decided whether the child be killed or allowed to make his way to Camp.
The journey to camp was in it’s own, an adventure. Lupa would not tell the hero where the camp lay- she would, however, give a hint. Jason was hoping that their tenth of a century together would allow him a more clear clue.
As Jason thought of all this, he heard faint footsteps from behind him. He took a deep breath for his final encounter with his mentor, guardian and friend.
“Lupa,” he said without turning.
“Jason…” she replied in a hoarse whisper. The unclaimed demigod whirled around to see the most important figure in the history of Romans crying.
“Oh god, Jason………I’m so sorry…” wept the tall lady.
Her eyes were red and puffed up.
“It’s ok, Lupa,” he comforted, not sure what to do. “I’ll Iris Message you or something……”
Lupa looked straight into my eyes.
“Jason, in the future, life will not be fair to you. You do not deserve what approaches. Still, you must fight through. semper ad finem lucis cuniculum ”
He understood what she had uttered. It was Latin for, “There is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
It was, till this day, the most highly favoured saying in Lupa’s mind. Now Jason knew why.
“Will I be claimed?” he asked.
Lupa stifled tears.
“Jupiter is a strange god, Jason. He is always busy…and he has his reasons for everything he does…”
“Why are you telling me this?” whispered Jason.
“You will need it soon, my hero,” she replied, her voice equally low. I could see specks of water dropping from her eyes.
She cleared her throat and said,
“I have also brought gifts for you,”
“What?” asked Jason. “I don’t need-“
“Take them!” commanded Lupa. Jason outstretched his hands.
In one hand, she dropped about twenty denarii. In the other hand, she gave him a single denarius.
“What? Twenty-one coins? Err…thank you?”
“Flip the single coin, Jason.”
Jason grasped the coin and emptied the others into his pocket. Then, he casually tossed it into the air.
For a moment, the coin just spun, and then it turned into a beautiful golden gladus.
Jason was awestruck.
“Lupa…….” Was all he could manage.
She nodded and then tossed him a long, black cloak.
“Take this as well, child….whenever you see it, you will be reminded of me.”
Jason nodded, still speechless.
The two sat there for a minute, taking in the sunrise. Both of them were holding back tears.
“I guess this is it…” choked Lupa.
Jason gulped and nodded.
“Goodbye, Jason,” whispered Lupa, sticking out her hand for her to shake.
Jason looked at her, his whole form trembling. Then, he ran up to Lupa and gave her a hug.
The sun was at it’s lowest point as they ended the embrace.
“I’ll never forget you, Lupa,” declared Jason.
“Go, Jason,” she smiled. “Make me proud.”
“Goodbye, Lupa,” said Jason again as he turned around to leave. He sprinted away, unable to stay in the wolf’s company for much longer.
“Goodbye, son.” Whispered Lupa as Jason ran out of sight.
Jason received a piece of parchment fifteen minutes later. He knew it was his clue to finding Camp Jupiter. He hoped for the best as he opened the paper.
Inside were only three words,
“Follow your instincts.”
“WHAT?” yelled Jason.
He had a great reason to be upset- Lupa had just made the most emotional send off in the history of demigods, and then she gives him the vaguest clue?
Wolves these days.
Jason sat down. He was beginning to feel nauseous. Now that he had been given a unclear hint, the possibilities were endless. There was a chance that the predicted great warrior would wander America forever, searching for the camp he would never find.
Jason took a deep breath and channelled the wind, as Lupa had taught him. He brought the currents to a relaxing and smooth howl. The sound and feel made him relax.
Again, he took a deep breath and reread the clue. Then, he tried searching his insincts.
His instincts weren’t being very helpful. He knew that he would be tested sooner or later by his first real monsters, so he felt fearful. All of his instincts told him to bolt away. Still, he kept on walking, going wherever his feet took him.
He knew that he was still in California. He had not walked far enough to change states. He just kept on chugging.
It was after an hour or two that Jason came to his first highway. Cars whizzed by, the drivers gawking at the old-style dressed kid standing on the side of the road. Jason ignored the mortals. He had been taught that they were clueless when it came to demigod matters.
The unclaimed son of a god stared at the only sign that was poorly attached to a flimsy steel pole. It read,
“SAN FRANSISCO- 100 miles”
Jason heaved a sigh. The nearest big city was still a long way away.
Again, Jason stopped to think. San Fransisco was his best shot. If he got there, he would probably see some monsters. He could track them to the camp’s borders.
Or, he could just keep on walking. That option seemed more relaxing- just wandering until that brilliant moment of inspiration. Jason shook that thought away and headed in the direction of the sign.
The air was cold, as it always was on February nights. Jason still kept on walking along side the highway. Whenever a car pulled up to check on him, he would turn to them wordlessly. That piercing stare that had been inherited from the gods scared the helpful person away.
It was a couple of hours later when Jason encountered another sign. This one read,
“San Fransisco-75 miles.”
Jason was outraged. He had spent hours walking fifteen miles. Not cool.
He would need transportation. Lupa had suggested flight a couple of weeks ago, but he was not powerful enough to stay in the air that long.
He would have to take a car.
There was no shortage of vehicles. Cars zoomed by frequently. The problem in this situation was trying to get a car to stop and help him. There had not been much of hose helpful people in the last five miles or so, so Jason was skeptical.
Still, he tried waving his hands in the universal hitchhiker symbol. No one let him join.
Jason walked a bit more, and his legs started to ache. The bones felt like they wanted crumble, and the muscles screamed. Jason was about to take a break when he heard the screech.
You didn’t have to be a genius to know that high pitched screeches were bad news.
Reluctantly, Jason turned around to see flying lions.
“Wonderful,” he thought, trying to rack his brain to remember something about the bloodthirsty animal in front of him.
There were about three of them, from the looks of it. They had the heads of eagles and the bodies of lions, save the large, feathery wings that outstretched three yards to either side.
The first one swooped out, and Jason jammed his hand into his pocket. Then, he flipped the coin.
He expected a sword, but he got a coin.
“Wrong one!” he exclaimed in frustration. He rolled under the first attack. As the creature screeched again, Jason remembered the real name of these monsters.
“Griffins….” He whispered as he tried to flip another a coin.
Again, no luck. The second griffin screeched and swooped. Jason flipped another two coins as he dodged another griffin swoop.
Jason swore as he brought out a handful of coins. The situation called for this act of recklessness.
The trio of flying lions attacked again, and Jason dove under them, tossing all the coins into the air.
There was a series of clinks as the regular coins hit the floor, and then a big clank as the sword slammed into the ground.
As soon as the coins hit the floor, the griffins swooped low again, grabbing the coins in their talons.
“Griffins love treasures!” remembered Jason.
He dove for his sword as the last griffin tried to nab it as well. The result: the griffin grabbed the sword and flew into the air with Jason hanging on to the blade from the bottom.
The creature screeched and tried to shake Jason loose. He did a pretty good job. The demigod was left hanging on with one hand on the sword. Another shake and he would plummet.
Jason got mad right about then. He had barely started his stupid journey, and now he was about to die. He didn’t think so.
With his anger came powers. He used the wind to help him jump from his griffin onto another one, and called upon lighting to smoke the untouched griffin. It dropped to the ground.
Jason grabbed onto the neck of the griffin that he was on. The griffin with his sword circled him, trying to peck his hands. His griffin shook.
Jason grunted and then called electricity into his body. He could literally feel the currents pulsing in his body.
He waited for the second griffin to float on top of him, and then he made his move.
His plan was short and simple: shock the griffin with the sword, catch the sword, land on the other griffin. It was pretty basic, but still advanced enough that failure would be unacceptable.
Jason leapt, again using the winds to propel him. He channelled the electricity to his skin and grabbed onto sword griffin’s claw. There was a crack, and the griffin screeched in pin from the shock.
Jason, on the other hand, dropped towards the ground, grabbed the sword, and slung one leg around the only remaining griffin.
All of a sudden, he had another great plot.
He needed safe transportation and a monster to follow to the camp’s borders, where it would be attracted. The griffin would be the monster, but it was not reliable for transportation. He would still need a car for that.
So, he would have to highjack a car. To bad ancient wolves did not know the ways of the cables; otherwise, Jason would be good to go. No, he needed an easy highjack, with keys included.
He already knew how he would do that.
First, he had to make sure the griffin was in place.
Jason sent a light dosage of electricity into the griffin. It gave a low shriek and tumbled to the ground, down but not out.
Perfect.
As the griffin tumbled, Jason slowed the winds, so that he was standing in air. Then, he fired lightning at a car’s tire.
The Corolla’s wheel didn’t stand a chance. Burning rubber’s scent filled the air. The driver pulled over to check on his car.
Jason, being the good planner that he was, had made sure that the electricity had struck just a miniscule amount of the rubber. The car would run fine, despite the odd smell.
As the driver went to check the wheel, Jason dropped to the road. He didn’t bother picking up his coins- he just dashed into the driver’s seat.
By the time the driver noticed him, he already had his seat belt on. His hands gripped the wheel. The smart mortal dove to the side as he accelerated down the highway. The griffin rose at just the right time, and then stopped for a moment, wondering where to go.
Jason knew he was searching for demigods. Soon, the griffin began flying again, in the direction of San Fransisco.
Jason grinned.
Maybe this journey would not be so tough after all.
The sun peeked through the clouds over the park. Thalia Grace walked hand in hand with her two year old brother, Jason. Her hair spiked up all over the place, with randomly coloured highlights brightening up the image. Her black shirt and black jeans looked ruffled.
Jason, on the other hand, was about 7 times smaller then his big sister. His blonde hair was pushed to the side, but tufts of it still drooped in front of his blue eyes.
In Thalia’s mind, something was wrong with Jason. He had the same personality as her, but he always looked more stern, even if they had the same parents.
Thalia always knew about Zeus being her daddy. The Sky God had revealed himself to their mother immediately. Still, Zeus had changed slightly when Jason had been born. He looked more violent and depressed. That was probably why Jason looked so worn out.
“Thalia, where are we going?” asked Jason. Even at two, his vocabulary was superb.
“To the park, Sparky.”
She addressed him by his nickname.
“Look, there is you Mother,” noted Thalia.
She spat the last word out. Needless to say, her mother and she did not have a great relationship.
Her mom was waiting in the middle of a park. She carried a picnic basket.
“Mommy!” squealed Jason, and he ran to give his mother a hug. Thalia stayed back and looked at the scene with disgust.
“Don’t be that way!” smiled Mrs. Grace.
“Silence, Mom!” snapped Thalia.
“Honey…” coaxed the irresponsible parent.
“Don’t honey me!” yelled Thalia.
“Ok, ok!” surrendered the mother.
She laid out the picnic items and then gave a gasp of surprise.
“Oh my goodness!” she said, her eyes widening. “I seem to have forgot the plates! Could you run over to the car and get them, Thalia?”
Thalia furrowed her brow. Rarely did Mother call her to her aid....something was wrong.
Still, she waved goodbye to Jason and jogged towards the car.
When she came back to the picnic site, she would find her mother screaming as a lady in a goat skin cloak picked up Jason and then teleported away.
Thalia’s brother had been kidnaped.
Chapter 1: Jason
Jason Grace did not wake up in a hip bedroom. In fact, the structure he slumbered on was nothing more then a rock carved into a cave. For him, however, this was luxurious.
Jason was not an ordinary child, and he knew it himself. Even though he had been barely exposed to the outside world, he could still figure out that ordinary children were not raised by wolves or trained with very pointy objects. He was also aware that normal children had two mortal parents. They got all the luck.
Jason was a son of a god. If he had been given permission to call himself one, he would’ve called himself Jason Grace, son of Jupiter. His lineage was painfully obvious, but Jupiter had never taken the time to ‘claim’ him, so it was not official.
Even the boy’s trainer, Lupa, knew that he was Jupiter’s child. She believed that he would be claimed when he first attended Camp Jupiter.
Lupa, the she-wolf, had acquired Jason a good ten years ago. She remembered the day clearly- the storm outside, the rain pounding the stone, the wind whispering it’s ancient warning. Lupa had been sharpening some swords in her human form when Juno had appeared in the entry way.
She had dropped a bundle near the door, in the freezing cold and beckoned for Lupa to approach.
“This is Jason Grace, son of Jupiter!” she had announced. “He is a peac offering from Mrs. Grace to me. Take care of him! He shall play a tremendous role in the events to come!”
She had then left without waiting for a reply. Lupa had raised Jason, the content of the bundle, with much care. She had harvested his power and trained him well. Now she awaited the day Juno would return and give the wolf consent to release Jason into the real world, where he would have to find his way to Camp Jupiter, which was the only safe place for Roman demigods.
Jason rubbed his eyes as he sat up straight.
“Lupa?” he yawned. “Did Juno come?”
“Is a wolf’s but green?” replied the wolf amusedly.
“Uhh…I don’t know, I have never been there..”
Lupa gagged.
“And you do not want to, my boy! Now get ready! Train harder and maybe Juno will let you to camp!”
Jason stayed on his bed.
“I don’t want to go to camp, Lupa,” he nodded.
“But Jason,” gasped Lupa. “You have worked for ten years in my service! You are ready for camp! You can become the greatest warrior ever!”
“No.”
“Jason,” coaxed the lady. “Every day, when you wake up, you ask me if Juno will let you go to camp. You want to go there, Grace!”
“I don’t want to go to camp! I want to be claimed! I want to have a father! I do not want to live like this! I don’t want my dad to ignore me!”
“The only way you are going to get claimed is if you go to camp!” explained Lupa.
“You know that is not true, Lupa,” spat Jason venomously.
Lupa was impressed. The boy was smarter then he looked.
That night, Lupa lay in her sleeping bag, thinking about Jason. Soon, he would be called to camp, and he would totally forget about Lupa. The problem was that the she-wolf was attached to the boy. She cared for him like a son.
“Is that how you feel, Lupa?” came a female voice from the entry way of the cave. Lupa gave a wry, heart-broken smile.
“Juno,” she said emotionlessly. “Come in.”
The goddess did so, her hulking form plopping into the only cushion in the dwelling.
“I take that you know why I am here?”
“Yes. Jason will be allowed into camp. Am I right?”
“Why, of course! I just have to give you official consent!”
“Why?” growled Lupa. “Why do we need YOUR consent?”
“You know very well why, Miss Wolf!” said Juno smugly.
“Because you are his patron! I know! But why? Why have you ruined his life? What about his family? What if he just wants to be normal!”
“Do not contradict me,” laughed Juno. “I am his patron, I decide what is right for him!”
“You are a snake, Juno!”
“HE IS RIGHTFULLY MINE!”
Lupa growled at the lady before her.
“Do you feel good, Juno?” she whispered. “You have ruined another kid’s life.”
Juno just shook her head.
“You will see, Lupa. Great evil approaches. Be prepared.”
With that, she handed a slip of paper to the wolf. Lupa grabbed it and snarled as Juno walked away.
That morning, Jason woke up to see Lupa in her human form. She stood beside his bed. He looked at her questionably.
Lupa just gave him a pitiful sigh and wordlessly handed him a slip of paper. Jason unravelled it, puzzled.
On the paper, in neat cursive writing, a clear message was printed.
“ I, Juno, the patron of Jason Grace, give my consent for the child to report to Camp Jupiter. "
Chapter 2: Jason
The sun was already half-covered in the horizon, illuminating the world in a pale orange. The waves quietly lapped over each other, making peaceful sounds. Birds chirped in the distance, and the crickets began their nightly song.
Jason, clad in nothing but jeans and a white shirt, sat atop a broken wall that was the Wolf House. He was waiting for Lupa. Once the wolf sent him off, he would be on his own, in the cruel world.
Alone.
Jason could write essays on the word, but at the same time, he did not understand it. All of his life, he had had Lupa watching over him. He was always in company. Lupa was his sole accomplice. Jason doubted that he would have been able to get through life without the compassionate wolf.
By the same token, however, Jason had an eternal feeling of loneliness. Perhaps it was because he never knew his family, or perhaps it was because he was so…so different.
Even by demigod standards, Jason was an oddball. For starters, the boy knew his godly parent, yet he had not been claimed, for reasons unknown. Secondly, he had trained with Lupa for a decade. Other heroes stayed for a month or so, and then it was decided whether the child be killed or allowed to make his way to Camp.
The journey to camp was in it’s own, an adventure. Lupa would not tell the hero where the camp lay- she would, however, give a hint. Jason was hoping that their tenth of a century together would allow him a more clear clue.
As Jason thought of all this, he heard faint footsteps from behind him. He took a deep breath for his final encounter with his mentor, guardian and friend.
“Lupa,” he said without turning.
“Jason…” she replied in a hoarse whisper. The unclaimed demigod whirled around to see the most important figure in the history of Romans crying.
“Oh god, Jason………I’m so sorry…” wept the tall lady.
Her eyes were red and puffed up.
“It’s ok, Lupa,” he comforted, not sure what to do. “I’ll Iris Message you or something……”
Lupa looked straight into my eyes.
“Jason, in the future, life will not be fair to you. You do not deserve what approaches. Still, you must fight through. semper ad finem lucis cuniculum ”
He understood what she had uttered. It was Latin for, “There is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
It was, till this day, the most highly favoured saying in Lupa’s mind. Now Jason knew why.
“Will I be claimed?” he asked.
Lupa stifled tears.
“Jupiter is a strange god, Jason. He is always busy…and he has his reasons for everything he does…”
“Why are you telling me this?” whispered Jason.
“You will need it soon, my hero,” she replied, her voice equally low. I could see specks of water dropping from her eyes.
She cleared her throat and said,
“I have also brought gifts for you,”
“What?” asked Jason. “I don’t need-“
“Take them!” commanded Lupa. Jason outstretched his hands.
In one hand, she dropped about twenty denarii. In the other hand, she gave him a single denarius.
“What? Twenty-one coins? Err…thank you?”
“Flip the single coin, Jason.”
Jason grasped the coin and emptied the others into his pocket. Then, he casually tossed it into the air.
For a moment, the coin just spun, and then it turned into a beautiful golden gladus.
Jason was awestruck.
“Lupa…….” Was all he could manage.
She nodded and then tossed him a long, black cloak.
“Take this as well, child….whenever you see it, you will be reminded of me.”
Jason nodded, still speechless.
The two sat there for a minute, taking in the sunrise. Both of them were holding back tears.
“I guess this is it…” choked Lupa.
Jason gulped and nodded.
“Goodbye, Jason,” whispered Lupa, sticking out her hand for her to shake.
Jason looked at her, his whole form trembling. Then, he ran up to Lupa and gave her a hug.
The sun was at it’s lowest point as they ended the embrace.
“I’ll never forget you, Lupa,” declared Jason.
“Go, Jason,” she smiled. “Make me proud.”
“Goodbye, Lupa,” said Jason again as he turned around to leave. He sprinted away, unable to stay in the wolf’s company for much longer.
“Goodbye, son.” Whispered Lupa as Jason ran out of sight.
Jason received a piece of parchment fifteen minutes later. He knew it was his clue to finding Camp Jupiter. He hoped for the best as he opened the paper.
Inside were only three words,
“Follow your instincts.”
“WHAT?” yelled Jason.
He had a great reason to be upset- Lupa had just made the most emotional send off in the history of demigods, and then she gives him the vaguest clue?
Wolves these days.
Jason sat down. He was beginning to feel nauseous. Now that he had been given a unclear hint, the possibilities were endless. There was a chance that the predicted great warrior would wander America forever, searching for the camp he would never find.
Jason took a deep breath and channelled the wind, as Lupa had taught him. He brought the currents to a relaxing and smooth howl. The sound and feel made him relax.
Again, he took a deep breath and reread the clue. Then, he tried searching his insincts.
His instincts weren’t being very helpful. He knew that he would be tested sooner or later by his first real monsters, so he felt fearful. All of his instincts told him to bolt away. Still, he kept on walking, going wherever his feet took him.
He knew that he was still in California. He had not walked far enough to change states. He just kept on chugging.
It was after an hour or two that Jason came to his first highway. Cars whizzed by, the drivers gawking at the old-style dressed kid standing on the side of the road. Jason ignored the mortals. He had been taught that they were clueless when it came to demigod matters.
The unclaimed son of a god stared at the only sign that was poorly attached to a flimsy steel pole. It read,
“SAN FRANSISCO- 100 miles”
Jason heaved a sigh. The nearest big city was still a long way away.
Again, Jason stopped to think. San Fransisco was his best shot. If he got there, he would probably see some monsters. He could track them to the camp’s borders.
Or, he could just keep on walking. That option seemed more relaxing- just wandering until that brilliant moment of inspiration. Jason shook that thought away and headed in the direction of the sign.
The air was cold, as it always was on February nights. Jason still kept on walking along side the highway. Whenever a car pulled up to check on him, he would turn to them wordlessly. That piercing stare that had been inherited from the gods scared the helpful person away.
It was a couple of hours later when Jason encountered another sign. This one read,
“San Fransisco-75 miles.”
Jason was outraged. He had spent hours walking fifteen miles. Not cool.
He would need transportation. Lupa had suggested flight a couple of weeks ago, but he was not powerful enough to stay in the air that long.
He would have to take a car.
There was no shortage of vehicles. Cars zoomed by frequently. The problem in this situation was trying to get a car to stop and help him. There had not been much of hose helpful people in the last five miles or so, so Jason was skeptical.
Still, he tried waving his hands in the universal hitchhiker symbol. No one let him join.
Jason walked a bit more, and his legs started to ache. The bones felt like they wanted crumble, and the muscles screamed. Jason was about to take a break when he heard the screech.
You didn’t have to be a genius to know that high pitched screeches were bad news.
Reluctantly, Jason turned around to see flying lions.
“Wonderful,” he thought, trying to rack his brain to remember something about the bloodthirsty animal in front of him.
There were about three of them, from the looks of it. They had the heads of eagles and the bodies of lions, save the large, feathery wings that outstretched three yards to either side.
The first one swooped out, and Jason jammed his hand into his pocket. Then, he flipped the coin.
He expected a sword, but he got a coin.
“Wrong one!” he exclaimed in frustration. He rolled under the first attack. As the creature screeched again, Jason remembered the real name of these monsters.
“Griffins….” He whispered as he tried to flip another a coin.
Again, no luck. The second griffin screeched and swooped. Jason flipped another two coins as he dodged another griffin swoop.
Jason swore as he brought out a handful of coins. The situation called for this act of recklessness.
The trio of flying lions attacked again, and Jason dove under them, tossing all the coins into the air.
There was a series of clinks as the regular coins hit the floor, and then a big clank as the sword slammed into the ground.
As soon as the coins hit the floor, the griffins swooped low again, grabbing the coins in their talons.
“Griffins love treasures!” remembered Jason.
He dove for his sword as the last griffin tried to nab it as well. The result: the griffin grabbed the sword and flew into the air with Jason hanging on to the blade from the bottom.
The creature screeched and tried to shake Jason loose. He did a pretty good job. The demigod was left hanging on with one hand on the sword. Another shake and he would plummet.
Jason got mad right about then. He had barely started his stupid journey, and now he was about to die. He didn’t think so.
With his anger came powers. He used the wind to help him jump from his griffin onto another one, and called upon lighting to smoke the untouched griffin. It dropped to the ground.
Jason grabbed onto the neck of the griffin that he was on. The griffin with his sword circled him, trying to peck his hands. His griffin shook.
Jason grunted and then called electricity into his body. He could literally feel the currents pulsing in his body.
He waited for the second griffin to float on top of him, and then he made his move.
His plan was short and simple: shock the griffin with the sword, catch the sword, land on the other griffin. It was pretty basic, but still advanced enough that failure would be unacceptable.
Jason leapt, again using the winds to propel him. He channelled the electricity to his skin and grabbed onto sword griffin’s claw. There was a crack, and the griffin screeched in pin from the shock.
Jason, on the other hand, dropped towards the ground, grabbed the sword, and slung one leg around the only remaining griffin.
All of a sudden, he had another great plot.
He needed safe transportation and a monster to follow to the camp’s borders, where it would be attracted. The griffin would be the monster, but it was not reliable for transportation. He would still need a car for that.
So, he would have to highjack a car. To bad ancient wolves did not know the ways of the cables; otherwise, Jason would be good to go. No, he needed an easy highjack, with keys included.
He already knew how he would do that.
First, he had to make sure the griffin was in place.
Jason sent a light dosage of electricity into the griffin. It gave a low shriek and tumbled to the ground, down but not out.
Perfect.
As the griffin tumbled, Jason slowed the winds, so that he was standing in air. Then, he fired lightning at a car’s tire.
The Corolla’s wheel didn’t stand a chance. Burning rubber’s scent filled the air. The driver pulled over to check on his car.
Jason, being the good planner that he was, had made sure that the electricity had struck just a miniscule amount of the rubber. The car would run fine, despite the odd smell.
As the driver went to check the wheel, Jason dropped to the road. He didn’t bother picking up his coins- he just dashed into the driver’s seat.
By the time the driver noticed him, he already had his seat belt on. His hands gripped the wheel. The smart mortal dove to the side as he accelerated down the highway. The griffin rose at just the right time, and then stopped for a moment, wondering where to go.
Jason knew he was searching for demigods. Soon, the griffin began flying again, in the direction of San Fransisco.
Jason grinned.
Maybe this journey would not be so tough after all.
