forest green ● jason grace

seventeen

The pilot said the plane couldn't wait for them , but that was okay with Daria. If they survived till the next day, she hoped they could find a different way back — anything but a plane.

She should've been depressed. She was stuck in Alaska, the giant's home territory, out of contact with anyone from Camp Jupiter, her home for the last thirteen years.. Plus, tomorrow evening was the Feast of Fortuna. She, Percy, Frank, and Hazel had an impossible task to complete before then. At best, they would unleash Death, who might take Daria's two friends and her only relative to the Underworld. Not much to look forward to.

Still, Daria felt strangely invigorated. Her training with Gaea was teaching her how to be increasingly more powerful. The goddess had taught her how to use her powers without significant restraint from the Gods. It was all in the practice, once she got used to the pain, it couldn't hold her back.

The second question was Percy. Juno had stolen his memory and sent him to Camp Jupiter for a reason. She understood that now. Daria still wanted to punch her in her godly face, but at least she got her reasoning. If the two camps could work together, they stood a chance of stopping their mutual enemies. Separately, both camps were doomed.

And then there was Jason. She couldn't stop thinking about him, how she would see him in a couple of days. After the last few months, this final stretch should've been nothing to her. Instead, it was everything. She had no doubt in her mind that he felt the same way; she knew him too well to think anything different.

As they took a taxi into downtown Anchorage, Percy told them about his dreams. Daria was anxious but not surprised when he told them about the giant's army closing in on camp.

Frank choked when he heard about Tyson. "You have a half-brother who's a Cyclops?"

"Sure," Percy said. "Which makes him your great-great-great — "

"Please." Frank covered his ears. "Enough."

"As long as he can get Ella to camp," Hazel said. "I'm worried about her."

The taxi turned on Highway One, which looked more like a small street to Daria, and took them north toward downtown. It was late afternoon, but the sun was still high in the sky.

"I can't believe how much this place has grown," Hazel muttered.

The taxi driver grinned in the rearview mirror. "Been a long time since you visited, miss?"

"About seventy years," Hazel said.

The driver slid the glass partition closed and drove on in silence.

According to Hazel, almost none of the buildings were the same, but she pointed out features of the landscape: the vast forests ringing the city, the cold, gray waters of Cook Inlet tracing the north edge of town, and the Chugach Mountains rising grayish-blue in the distance, capped with snow even in June. Dari had never smelled air this clean before. The town itself had a weather-beaten look to it, with closed stores, rusted-out cars, and worn apartment complexes lining the road, but it was still beautiful. Lakes and huge stretches of woods cut through the middle. The arctic sky was an amazing combination of turquoise and gold.

Then there were the giants. Dozens of bright-blue men, each thirty feet tall with gray frosty hair, were wading through the forests, fishing in the bay, and striding across the mountains. The mortals didn't seem to notice them. The taxi passed within a few yards of one who was sitting at the edge of a lake washing his feet, but the driver didn't panic.

"Urn..." Frank pointed at the blue guy.

"Hyperboreans," Percy said. He looked like he was amazed he remembered that name. "Northern giants. I fought some when Kronos invaded Manhattan."