SANITY; heroes of olympus

01.4

[act one; chapter four     -     happy the dragon, sad the memories]

Jason couldn't help but pause when he came across the photos on the walls in cabin 1.

He picked up one of the photos that had fallen, a piece of old tape stuck to the back. It wasn't old, but it had at least been taken in the last three years or so. It was Andromeda—at least, that's the first person he recognised—with her curly red hair. She looked younger and lighter, like she wasn't carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. The photo was caught with her mid-laugh, and her eyes were pinched shut, her mouth dropped open as her arms were slung around two other people's shoulders. To her left was a boy—messy raven hair, sea green eyes, tan skin. He had a wide grin on his face, but he wasn't looking at the camera. His eyes were focused solely on the redhead girl beside him. He was looking at her like...like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Jason knew this must be Percy Jackson.

Opposite to him was another girl with short, choppy black hair and electric blue eyes. She too was caught mid-laugh, but instead of leaning back like Andromeda was, she was leaning forward, hanging onto the redhead's arm. Jason couldn't figure out why, but she just seemed so familiar...

"That's Thalia," someone said.

Jason turned.

Andromeda was peering over 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, she's not one to stick in one place for long. Not really her thing. Sorry, I should've knocked."

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

Andromeda gave him a small smile. "I get that. It's a terrible feeling, being somewhere, no matter the amount of time, yet you always feel like you never really fit."