memories | j.grace

020 | ugh, hera

phoebe woke up in a helicopter, in jason's arms, his head resting on her shoulder.

"ouch," phoebe said, rubbing her head. jason's head shot up, his hands going to her face.

"thank god. are you okay?" he asked her, relief flooding his senses.

phoebe didn't know what she was feeling; everything was so overwhelming. phoebe tackled jason into a hug, smiling when his arms wrapped around her waist.

she sat there in jasons arms for a moment, before leo spoke up.

"hey, jackson. you okay? you had all of us worried; especially jason over there."

phoebe smiled. "i'm good. worst case scenario, a concussion. nothing that won't heal. are you flying a helicopter?"

"yeah," he said. "so what's the wolf house?"

phoebe climbed off of jason as the two of them knelt between the front seats. "am abandoned mansion in the sonoma valley. a demigod built it—jack london."

leo couldn't place the name. "he an actor?"

"writer," piper said. "adventure stuff, right? call of the wild? white fang?"

"yeah," jason said. "he was a son of mercury —i mean, hermes. he was an adventurer, traveled the world. he was even a hobo for a while. then he made a fortune writing. he bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion—the wolf house."

"named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" phoebe guessed.

"partially," jason said. "but the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves—he was dropping hints about his personal experience. there're a lot of holes in his life story—how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much—stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

the bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as leo could see.

"so jack london went to camp half-blood," leo guessed.

"no," jason said. "no, he didn't."

"bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. are you remembering your past or not?"

"pieces," jason said. "only pieces. none of it good. the wolf house is on sacred ground. it's where london started his journey as a child—where he found out he was a demigod. that's why he returned there. he thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. the wolf house was cursed. it burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. a few years later, london died, and his ashes were buried on the site."

"so," phoebe said, "how do you know all this?"

a shadow crossed jason's face. probably just a cloud, but leo could swear the shape looked like an eagle.

"i started my journey there too," jason said. "it's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. if gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb hera on the solstice and raise porphyrion—that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully."

leo kept his hand on the joystick, guiding the chopper at full speed—racing toward the north. he could see some weather ahead—a spot of darkness like a cloudbank or a storm, right where they were going.

the helicopter shuddered. metal creaked, and leo could almost imagine the tapping was morse code: not the end. not the end.

"thirty minutes out," he told his friends, though he wasn't sure how he knew. "if you want to get some rest, now's a good time."