𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

20

𝐋𝐞𝐨 𝐬𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭. Jason didn't like seeing his friend like this, and at first he had refused to believe Leo would do something like that. But multiple people saw it with their own eyes. Jason still wanted to argue with the others. Leo wasn't like that. He wouldn't do something like that.

All around them, the beautiful new ship was in shambles. The aft crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge mad. Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and some of the aerial oars had been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely, which explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as it flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.

Annabeth had managed to fly them out of Camp Jupiter just in time. If they'd stayed there a moment longer, the ship would no doubt have been shot down.

"One more time," Annabeth said. "Exactly what happened?"

He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"

"I..." Leo looked frustrated. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked just like he was undercover at the Wilderness School as the P.E. teacher again. The way the old satyr was glowering, Jason almost wondered if the coach was going to order him to do push-ups.

"Look, kid," Hedge said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."

"Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"

"But I already did that."

"Do it again."

The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.

"Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"

"No." Leo said. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."

Jason frowned, "On purpose?"

"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes... I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—"

"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost... scared.

"Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"

From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, we need you."

"Dante," Frank— the new kid, donned a troubled expression. "He got hit by a brick." He explained to Leo.

"He saved me," Jason hesitated. Dante had daggers drawn, daggers that were in Jason's hands now. He could have killed Jason easily. As a Roman should have. But he didn't.

Jason didn't know or remember much about the guy. Even at lunch he had been quiet.

As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken an unconscious Dante below. The cut on his head had looked pretty bad. There had been more than enough fighting. If one of the Romans died...

"He'll be fine." Annabeth's expression softened. "Frank, I'll be back. Just... watch Leo. Please. Jason, come with me."

Jason didn't want to leave Leo with a demigod he barely knew. But Annabeth's expression was troubled. He followed her belowdecks and into one of the rooms where Piper and Percy had let Dante rest.