𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐑𝐔𝐒𝐇 [Jason Grace]

44

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

Once Percy, Piper and he had gotten tired of pacing the deck, listening to Coach Hedge sing "Old MacDonald" (with weapons instead of animals), they decided to have a picnic in the park. Percy decided to retire to his room, too filled with anxiety.

When he asked Coach permission for the picnic, Hedge grudgingly agreed. "Stay where I can see you."

"What are we, kids?" Jason asked.

Hedge snorted. "Kids are baby goats. They're cute, and they have redeeming social value. You are definitely not kids."

They spread their blanket under a willow tree next to a pond. Piper turned over her cornucopia and spilled out an entire meal—neatly wrapped sandwiches, canned drinks, fresh fruit, and a birthday cake with purple icing and candles already lit.

She frowned. "Is it someone's birthday?"

Jason winced. "I wasn't going to say anything."

"Jason!"

"There's too much going on," he said. If it were up to him, he would never even have brought up his birthday at all. The only person who had wished him was Dante and now he was somewhere underground in Rome fighting some fierce monster, leading Annabeth to the statue.

"July First," Piper said. "The Kalends of July."

"Yeah." Jason smirked. "The Romans would find that auspicious—the first day of the month named for Julius Caesar. Juno's sacred day. Yippee."

There was a time he was excited for his birthday, back when he was younger. He remembered the time Reyna won him a stuffed toy after she slammed the hammer into the carnival game so hard she broke the machine. He remembered being far too young for the legion, the times Octavian's family celebrated his birthday at their home in the city and his mom baked Jason a cake. They had all gathered around and celebrated Jason.

Over the years, that tradition stopped. Octavian grew bitter. Jason stopped receiving invitations to his home. Once he'd screamed at Jason to stop coming over because his family started to love Jason as a child more than him. Jason had never intended that to happen. So he never went over again, though he did see Octavian's family every now and again in the city.

He wondered what his mom thought of her son's descent into madness now.

"Seventeen?" Piper asked.

Talking to her wasn't as awkward as Jason thought it would be. They had been friends, first and foremost. The Romance part may have been pushed hard by Hera, but Jason genuinely enjoyed her company. It was easy to be friends with her.

"Oh boy, I'm the dancing queen," Jason said sarcastically.

Piper laughed. It didn't send a violent stab through Jason's heart. He took that as a good sign. "Young and sweet."

"Only seventeen!"

"Well?" she urged. "Blow out the candles."

Dante had been the one who told Jason about making wishes as he blew out candles. Jason made a mental note to ask him if that memory was real or fake.

I want to remember my whole life. He wished as he closed his eyes. No more fragments. The whole thing. Everything.

He blew out the candles.

In hindsight, he probably could have wished for something better, like getting lucky enough to take down Gaea or surviving the quest. But Jason figured he earned being selfish for once.