DON'T BLAME ME! (p. jackson) (#2) (ON HOLD)

- three

ROSE HAD NEVER ACTUALLY SEEN BERYL BEFORE.

sure, she'd seen pictures. finding thalia and jason grace was a true crime lover's wet dream. for a while, after a sighting of thalia in san francisco on rose's first quest, pictures of thalia and beryl had flooded twitter. thalia didn't look much like her— thalia's hair was naturally black, while beryl's was a yellowy blonde.

jason, on the other hand... rose could see the resemblance. they had the same eyes, though jason's were friendlier. the same narrow nose. jason was also blond, although he was more platinum than gold.

"dearest." beryl held out her arms.

jason's mist disguise burned off. his posture straightened. his varicose veins disappeared. his walking stick turned back into an imperial gold gladius.

"mom?" he managed.

"yes, dearest." her image flickered. "come, embrace me."

"you're– you're not real."

"of course she's real." michael varus's eyes glittered evilly. "did you think gaea would let such an important spirit languish in the underworld? she is your mother, beryl grace, star of television, sweetheart to the king of olympus, who rejected her not once but twice, in both his greek and roman aspects. she deserves justice as much as any of us."

jason swayed on his feet.

"jason," rose said, slowly approaching him. her smile was gone. her gaze was fierce and commanding– as impossible to ignore as the three foot long sword she clutched. "that isn't your mother."

piper nodded. "her voice is working some kind of magic on you– like charmspeak, but more dangerous. can't you sense it?"

"she's right." annabeth climbed onto the nearest table. she kicked aside a platter, startling a dozen suitors. "jason, that's only a remnant of your mother, like an ara, maybe, or–"

"a remnant!" beryl's ghost sobbed. "yes, look what i have been reduced to. it's jupiter's fault. he abandoned us. he wouldn't help me! i didn't want to leave you in sonoma, my dear, but juno and jupiter gave me no choice. they wouldn't allow us to stay together. why fight for them now? join these suitors. lead them. we can be a family again!"

jason's jaw clenched. "you left me. that wasn't jupiter or juno. that was you."

beryl grace stepped forward. the worry lines around her eyes, the pained tightness in her mouth reminded rose of thalia.

"dearest, i told you i would come back. those were my last words to you. don't you remember?"

across the table, antinous raised his goblet. "so pleased to meet you, son of jupiter. listen to your mother. you have many grievances against the gods. why not join us? i gather these two serving girls are your friends? we will spare them. you wish to have your mother remain in the world? we can do that. you wish to be a king–"

"no." jason's pupils were blown, as if antinous had roofied him. "no, i don't belong with you."

varus regarded him with cold eyes. "are you so sure, my fellow praetor? even if you defeat the giants and gaea, would you return home like odysseus did? where is your home now? with the greeks? with the romans? no one will accept you. and, if you get back, who's to say you won't find ruins like this?"

"you were a legion officer," jason told varus. "a leader of rome."

"so were you," varus said. "loyalties change."

"you think i belong with this crowd?" jason asked. "a bunch of dead losers waiting for a free handout from gaea, whining that the world owes them something?"

around the courtyard, ghosts and ghouls rose to their feet and drew weapons.

"beware!" piper yelled at the crowd. "every man in this palace is your enemy. each one will stab you in the back at the first chance!"

over the last few weeks, piper's charmspeak had become truly powerful. she spoke the truth, and the crowd believed her. they looked sideways at one another, hands clenching the hilts of their swords. rose couldn't help but be proud of piper.

jason's mother stepped towards him. "dearest, be sensible. give up your quest. your argo ii could never make the trip to athens. even if it did, there's the matter of the athena parthenos."

a tremor passed through him. "what do you mean?"

"don't feign ignorance, my dearest. gaea knows about your friend, reyna, and nico, the son of hades, and the satyr, hedge. to kill them, the earth mother has sent her most dangerous son– the hunter who never rests. but you don't have to die."

the ghouls and ghosts closed in– two hundred of them facing jason in anticipation, as if he might lead them in the national anthem.

the hunter who never rests.

rose didn't know who that was, but she had to warn reyna and nico.

which meant they had to get out of here alive.

jason looked at annabeth, rose, and piper. all stood ready, waiting for his cue.

"what do you want?" he asked. "what brought you here?"

"i want life!" beryl cried. "youth! beauty! your father could have made me immortal. he could have taken me to olympus, but he abandoned me. you can set things right, jason. you are my proud warrior!"

her lemony scent turned acrid, as if she were starting to burn.

rose remembered something thalia had told her. her mother had become increasingly unstable, until her despair had driven her crazy. she had died in a car accident, the result of her driving while drunk.

"you're a mania," jason decided. "a spirit of insanity. that's what you've been reduced to."

"i am all that remains," beryl grace agreed. her image flickered through a spectrum of colours. "embrace me, son. i am all you have left."

"no," he croaked. he glanced at his friends. "my loyalties haven't changed. my family has just expanded. i'm a child of greece and rome." he looked back at his mother for the last time. "i'm no child of yours."

he made the ancient sign of warding off evil– three fingers thrust out from the heart– and the ghost of beryl grace disappeared with a soft hiss, like a sigh of relief.

the ghoul antinous tossed aside his goblet. he studied jason with a look of lazy disgust. "well, then," he said, "i suppose we'll just kill you."

all around them, the enemies closed in.