𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐔𝐌 • Heroes of Olympus

B. WHERE'S PERCY? THERE'S PERCY

Jason

WHEN Andy had barged into his cabin to summon him to the council, Jason had expected a formal senate. Instead, he got fourteen cabin counselors and a Leo eating nachos around the Ping-Pong table. It almost made him want to go back to Juno.

***

Jason had been sorting through his newly returned memories and praying to Jupiter for nearly an hour when Juno had showed up in his cabin. She was in a black hooded robe, with a goatskin cloak over her shoulders and a sheathed Roman sword—a gladius—in her hands.

“Hera,” he had said.

She had pushed back her hood. “To you, I have always been Juno. And your father has already sent you guidance, Jason. He sent you Andy and Leo. They’re not just your responsibility. They are also your friends. Listen to them, and you will do well.”

“Did Jupiter send you here to tell me that?”

“No one sends me anywhere, hero,” she had said. “I am not a messenger.”

“But you got me into this. Why did you send me to this camp?”

“I think you know,” Juno had said. “An exchange of leaders was necessary. It was the only way to bridge to gap.”

“I didn’t agree to it.”

“No. But Zeus gave your life to me, and I am helping you fulfill your destiny.”

Jason had had a hard time controlling his anger. He had looked down at his orange camp shirt and the tattoos on his arm, and he knew these things should not go together. He had become a contradiction—a mixture as dangerous as anything Medea could cook up.

“What if you’re not telling the truth?” he had asked. “What if you’re doing this to cause another civil war?”

Juno had grimaced. “I am the goddess of family,” she had said. “My family has been divided for too long.”

“They divided us so we don’t kill each other,” Jason had replied. “That seems like a pretty good reason.”

“The prophecy demands that we change. The giants will rise. Each can only be killed by a god and demigod working together. Those demigods must be the seven greatest of the age. As it stands, they are divided between two places. If we remain divided, we cannot win. Gaea is counting on this. You must unite the heroes of Olympus and sail together to meet the giants on the ancient battlegrounds of Greece. Only then will the gods be convinced to join you. It will be the most dangerous quest, the most important voyage, ever attempted by the children of the gods.”

Jason had looked up at the glowering statue of his father.

“It’s not fair,” Jason had said. “I could ruin everything.”

“You could,” Juno had agreed. “But gods need heroes. We always have. And I? I have no demigod children of my own. That's why I am glad Zeus gave you to me. You will be my champion, Jason. You will be the greatest of heroes, and bring unity to the demigods, and thus to Olympus.”

Something heavy had settled over Jason then. He was terrified about what was to come, but he no longer felt alone. He had friends now, and a home to fight for. He even had a patron goddess looking out for him, which had to count for something, even if she seemed a little untrustworthy.

“And if I fail?” he had asked. 

“Great victory requires great risk,” she had admitted. “Fail, and there will be bloodshed like we have never seen. Demigods will destroy one another. The giants will overrun Olympus. Gaea will wake, and the earth will shake off everything we have built over five millennia. It will be the end of us all.”