heavy bones [jason grace]

2. crash-landing

The only bad part about winter break is no longer having an excuse not to help clean for cabin inspection.

Otherwise, it's beyond nice to have a break from school, even though camp is stressed as all hell. Percy Jackson is missing, has been for three days now. We're not super close, but we're friends. When I was new to camp and everyone thought I was a freak (they still kinda do), Percy was one of the only people who would talk to me. Thanks to him, I became friends with Annabeth, Grover, and Nico. After some time, I started making my own friends - Lacy, Miranda from the Demeter cabin (we share a love of flowers), and Taylor from the Ares cabin. Taylor and I are both the silent, brooding type, so we get along pretty well. Lacy and I don't make sense as friends, but sometimes I think those are the best kinds.

Right now, Grover and Nico are out and about in the world looking for Percy. Annabeth and my brother Butch took the Apollo kids' chariot this morning to investigate something she'd been told in a vision. Something about a kid missing a shoe? I don't know the details, and I don't super care. Percy's vanishing act is something only one of the gods could pull off, and I highly doubt some random guy is gonna be our lead.

Lacy is trying to teach me how to sew while we sit on my bed. We're making pockets. Taylor is training, and Miranda is tending to the crops that keep Camp Half-Blood funded. It kind of hurts to grip the thin needle between my fingertips, but I don't say anything to Lacy. I poke the sharp end of the needle through this bit of flowery pink fabric Lacy gave me, pull the thread through, and stab the fabric again. I get why Lacy finds this relaxing. When you get into the rhythm, the rest of the world kind of slips away.

Lacy glances at me. She's working on actually sewing a red-and-white checkered pocket onto a pair of denim jeans. She smiles. "Good. Once you're done with that, you can start on this skirt—" 

A cacophony of screams from outside cut her off. We exchange looks and toss our projects aside, grabbing our weapons as we run out of the Iris cabin.

As soon as we get outside, we see why everybody is losing it. The Apollo kids' chariot — the very same one Butch and Annabeth had borrowed — is hurtling through the sky and heading for the ground. It crashes into the lake and I can't help but wince. There's no fixing that.

"Is that Annabeth and Butch?" Miranda asks, racing up beside us. The entire camp is huddled around the lake. Annabeth and two of the new kids manage to get to shore. Butch is cutting the pegasi free of their harnesses. The pegasi seem to be okay, just a bit shaken.

"Yeah, and it looks like they brought friends," I say. Other campers are racing to help Annabeth, Butch, and their new buddies, but I choose to stay back and watch. I'm not gonna be of any help. Naiads throw the last of the new kids out of the lake, followed minutes later by the wreckage of the chariot.

Will is livid. "Annabeth, I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!" I slap my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing. The damage is even worse than I originally thought.

To her credit, Annabeth seems sheepish. "Will, I'm sorry. I'll get it fixed, I promise." I almost scoff, but if anyone can put that heap of scrap back into a chariot, it's the Hephaestus and Athena kids. I step up, eyeing the new kids. Two boys and a girl. The girl is absolutely gorgeous. Her skin is beautifully tan and her eyes are a kaleidoscope of mesmerizing colors. One of the boys is clearly Latino — he looks a lot like an elf. Scrawny, pointy-ish ears, a mischievous grin, I'd wager he was one of Hermes's. The last kid is tall and blond with pretty blue eyes and a small scar on his lip. He looks a lot like Luke. The thought makes my stomach shoot into my throat.

"These are the ones?" I end up standing next to Will, my arms crossed over my chest. The new kids save for the blond recoil slightly under my intense gaze. "They're clearly my age. Why haven't they been claimed already?"