Moments: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

III - Jason

Jason sat on the edge of Camp Jupiter, overlooking New Rome. He sighed. It was different than before, some buildings had to be rebuilt since Leo bombed a whole bunch of them. Remembering that made Jason laugh. He missed his best friend.

It was dawn, and Jason was watching the sun rise over New Rome. He loved to get up early and watch Apollo pull the sun across the sky. He usually watched it alone, so he was startled when someone sat down beside him.

"Good morning, Jason," Reyna said, looking at the sunrise.

"It is, isn't it," Jason replied. He looked over at her. Her dark hair was tied back in a long side braid, and her intense, black eyes were focused on the horizon. She was quite pretty, but she was always more of a sister to him than anything else.

The two of them sat there for a while, watching the sunrise, and simply enjoying each other's presence. That is, until, they weren't alone anymore.

"Hello?" a girl's voice called from behind them. Jason turned around quickly and saw a girl holding two swords and a dagger, and he instinctively screamed. Reyna laughed. "I'm sorry, but where am I?"

Jason was too busy blushing from embarrassment to answer. Lucky for him, Reyna was fine. "You're at Camp Jupiter. What is your name?"

The girl set her three weapons onto the grass and stepped closer to Reyna. She put out her hand to be shaken and introduced herself. "I'm Gemma, and I promise that only one of those weapons is actually mine." Reyna shook the girls hand, and introduced herself as the Praetor. She then excused herself and left, leaving Jason alone with Gemma. Jason looked over at the three weapons. He didn't recognize the metal; it wasn't Imperial Gold or Celestial Bronze. It was a sort of silver color, but it wasn't Stygian Iron, either. Weird.

"So, where are you from?" Jason asked. And to his surprise, Gemma laughed.

"I don't do backstories," she replied. "At least not right now." She picked up her weapons and walked towards Jason. "Who are you? And what's this camp for?"

Jason scrambled to his feet. "Uh, I'm Jason. Prae- I mean, former Praetor of New Rome. This camp is for, uh, demigods? That sounds weird. Um, you know like Greek mythology?" He looked up at Gemma. To his surprise, she didn't look shocked, but she definitely looked scared. "Are you okay?" Gemma shook her head. What was up with this girl?

"I really shouldn't be here," she said. "I have to go. Now." She looked up at Jason, an obvious fear in her eyes.

Jason stepped closer to her, and she took a step back. "Gemma, what's going on? We're not gonna hurt you. I know it's a lot to take in, but-"

"No," she cut him off. "I just can't stay here, okay?" She turned on her heal and started marching off. In the opposite direction than she should if she wanted to leave the camp. He decided not to say anything; this girl intrigued him, and he wanted to figure her out.

"Why?" Apparently, that was the wrong question to ask right then. Gemma stopped in her tracks and started crying. "Gemma?"

She turned around and looked Jason in the eye. "I don't belong here. At least not right now. I don't know where my friends are and I have to find them. I just have to." She wiped her eyes and turned around again, heading in the opposite direction.

Jason sprinted to catch up with this mysterious girl. "Hey, maybe I could help you find them. Ya know, if you'll let me."

Gemma let out a small laugh and wiped her eyes again. "Yeah. Yeah, that would be great." Jason let out a breath of relief.

The two walked in silence for some time, heading down to the center of camp. Jason examined this girl, trying to figure who she was. She was keeping a secret from him and he absolutely had to figure out what it was. Maybe he could start with the weapons. Hazel could easily tell what kind of metal they were made from. She was at the camp and saw it for what it was, so she had to be one of them, right? "Hey Gemma, we should go see my friend, Hazel. I think she may be able to help." She may be able to help me, not you, he thought.

Gemma nodded, and Jason turned onto a path that led to Hazel's favorite place. They found her with Frank, the two of them whispering and giggling about something. "Hazel? Can I talk to you for a moment?" Jason pulled Hazel aside and quickly explained what had going on. "Do you think you'd be able to find out what kind of metal her weapons are made from? It seems dumb, but I'm thinking that's the first step. She's keeping a secret, I know she is."

Hazel nodded hesitantly and walked up to Gemma. "Hi, Gemma, my name is Hazel, and this is Frank. Do you mind if I take a look at your sword for a bit?" Gemma gave Hazel a funny look, but reluctantly handed over her sword. Hazel nodded in thanks.

As soon as the metal touched Hazel's skin, her eyes grew wide and her pupils dilated.

"Hazel?"

Hazel shook her head and turned to Jason. "Jason," she started, "this is Ethereal Titanium."