the great wave | percy jackson

𝑣𝑖𝑖 - jason

Jason woke the next morning to the sound of thunder. He blinked, disoriented after his odd dream about wolves. Then he remembered where he was. It was always thundering in Cabin One. 

He sat up, rubbing his neck; his whole body was stiff from bad sleep and summoning lightning the night before. Studying the ginormous statue of his dad in the middle of the room, Jason searched for anything he had in common with the Lord of the Sky. Black hair? Nope. Grumbly expression? Maybe. Beard? No thanks. In his robes and sandals, Zeus looked like a really buff, really angry hippie.

Shaking his head, he got changed and made up his cot military-style automatically, thoughts drifting to Piper as he did so. Jason still wasn't sure how he felt about last night. He'd acted like an idiot, announcing in front of everyone that she was a knockout. Number one, it wasn't like there'd been anything wrong with her before the weird transformation, and number two, she looked seriously uncomfortable with the attention. Afterwards, Jason had gone up to Piper and formally asked her to come with him on the quest, actually having to resist the urge to hug her when she said yes.

Even though he felt bad for dragging others into his mess, he was happy with who was accompanying him. Jason had tried to act brave at the campfire, but it was just that: an act. He was going up against something powerful enough to kidnap Hera. He would need Leo's wits, Ash's experience, and Piper's support.

He was just about ready to get out of that cold, lonely cabin when he spotted something. A brazier had been moved out of one of the back alcoves to create a sleeping niche, with a bedroll, a backpack, and pictures taped to the wall.

Jason walked over. Whoever had slept there, it had been a long time ago. Everything was covered in a thin film of dust; some of the photos had fallen to the floor. One picture showed a much younger Annabeth standing next to a sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen. He was smiling mischievously and pointing behind them, as if saying Let's go meet things in a dark alley and kill them! A somehow-even-tinier Ash was creeping up behind them, looking like the thing in the dark alley and clearly about to attempt a jump-scare. A second photo showed the same trio. The boy was sitting next to a campfire, Annabeth atop his shoulders, and incredibly enough, Ash on top of hers. All three were laughing hysterically.

Finally Jason picked up one of the photos that had fallen. It was a strip of pictures like you'd take in a do-it-yourself photo booth. Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy with Ash on his lap, but this time there was another girl between them. She was maybe fifteen, with black hair--choppy like Piper's--a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth. She was caught midlaugh, and it was clear she was with her best friends.

"That's Thalia," someone said.

Jason wheeled around.

Ash was peering around the side of his shoulder. Her expression was sad, like the picture brought back hard memories. "She's the other child of Zeus who lived here--but not for long. Sorry, I should've knocked."

"It's fine," Jason said. "Not like I think of this place as home."

Ash was dressed for comfort and capability, tips of her daggers just peeking out under an oversized black sweatshirt emblazoned with 'Goode High School Swim Team.'

"What are you doing here?" He questioned.

She gave him a small smile. "Just checking in, seeing if you're ready to go lead this quest like a badass."

He certainly didn't feel like much of a badass. Everyone seemed to think he was so brave and confident, but they didn't see how lost he really felt. How could they trust him when he didn't even know who he was?