CATHARSIS, jason grace¹ [EDITING]

𝟬𝟭𝟭. a friend waiting for you back home

"HER NAME IS THALIA," said Annabeth, who was standing under the door of Cabin One. When she arrived, Jason had been shuffling through the other child of Zeus' belongings in the hidden alcoves of the lonely cabin. With the early morning sun shining on her back, Annabeth peered at the photograph in Jason's hands. Her expression was sad like the keepsake brought back fond memories. "She's the other child of Zeus who lived here—but not for long. We used to all be friends. Everyone in that picture...Sorry, I should've knocked."

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

Annabeth was dressed for travel, with a winter coat over her camp clothes, her knife at her belt, and a backpack across her shoulder. If not for the celestial bronze knife and the lethal glint in her eyes, she might have passed off as any regular teenager going on an overnight trip.

"Then maybe you do have something in common with Aera," she remarked harshly, though her vindictive voice had no effect on him this time.

He focused on the photograph. It was a strip of pictures that you'd take in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Thalia, Annabeth and Aera, both looking much younger (around seven?), and a sandy-haired guy. He looked to be a teenager with a mischievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt. He seemed close with the girls, with his arms around them like an older brother, but something about his toothy grin put Jason off.

"Who's the other kid in the photo?" Jason asked, not recognizing him. "The sandy-haired guy."

"Shouldn't you know?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow at him. "That's the 'love' of Aera's life, Luke Castellan..." Annabeth paused. "...he's dead now."

Jason swore Annabeth was about to say "because of Aera" but thought against it at the very last moment. Her words felt like a bright red stop sign to Jason, warning him that if he continued going down this road with Aera, he'd meet the same fate. Jason decided it was best not to ask more, but the bitter way Annabeth said "the love of Aera's life" made Jason wonder if maybe Aera had been more than a friend to Annabeth in the past.

"Gods, I can't believe she kept that," Annabeth said lightly, much less sullen this time and almost reminiscent. "Aera stabbed Thalia in the arm twice after she threw Luke off a cliff. Long story. I didn't think Thalia wanted anything to do with Aera anymore after she joined The Hunters."

"What's with The Hunters?"

"They have to swear off boys when they're recruited."

Jason instantly understood. "Makes sense."

"Actually, you'd be surprised," Annabeth responded, a twinge of amusement sparkling in her grey eyes. "Aera used to hate love. Hard to believe, right? If she wasn't so obsessed with Luke, she might have joined the Hunters."

Jason glanced back down at the sandy-haired guy's face. So not only had this guy convinced Aera to rebel against the gods, but he'd also changed Aera's view on love? What could be so special about him? For someone who had led a rebellion war against the gods, he looked pretty normal to Jason. In most of the pictures, he was playing tricks on Aera while she was trying to pose for the camera. She would get mad at him while Annabeth and Thalia laughed at them on the sides.

Then it finally hit Jason why Luke's perfectly white teeth irked him—it reminded him of Dylan, who always smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere.

With all that talk about appearance, deep down, Jason had been secretly expecting Aera's famed lover to be more...impressive.

Jason shook away the useless thoughts.

Since he had discovered it this morning behind one of the braziers, Jason kept getting the feeling that this photo of Thalia was important. He was missing something. Jason felt this strange sense of connection to this other child of Zeus—someone who might understand his confusion, maybe even answer some questions. But another voice inside him, an insistent whisper, said: Dangerous. Stay away. You aren't ready yet.