The Forgotten Hero (Book 1)

Chapter 12

I stood there, staring at the silver arrows that had littered the ground. Soon, another wolf came forward. This one was a light silver color, and didn't have blood on its fur, like the lycanthropes had.

"Kill it?" Hedge asked, apprehensively.

"No." Piper said. "Wait."

Soon more wolves came, followed by the rest of their pack. Only the rest of the pack was a group of people, dressed in camouflage and silvery parkas.

One of the girls picked up an arrow off the ground. "Almost." She muttered. "Phoebe, stay with me. The rest of you, keep following Lycaon. We'll catch up." She turned to us, taking her hood off. I felt Jason tense next to me and I placed a gentle hand on his arm. The girl continued. "We've been following that guy for weeks. Is everyone okay? No one got bit?"

Piper stared at her. "You're Thalia." She blurted.

"Do I know you?" She looked slightly alarmed.

"This may come as a shock, but--" Piper was cut off.

Jason stepped forward. "I'm your brother."

Thalia's face dropped. "Oh Gods. She told me you were dead." She stepped forward, examining Jason's face. "It is you. You got that scar on your lip after trying to eat a stapler."

I smiled, "yum." I joked.

Hedge nodded. "Excellent source of Iron."

Jason looked confused and almost alone. "Wait, who told you I was dead?"

The wolf at the entrance snarled. Thalia turned to Jason. "I don't have much time, but we have a lot to talk about. Let's sit."

Piper seemed eager to sit. She practically collapsed. If Hedge hadn't caught her, she would have cracked her head on the floor of the cave.

"What's wrong with her?" Thalia looked at her. "Nevermind, I see. Hypothermia, ankle. Don't you know nature magic?" Thalia turned to Coach.

He frowned. "Can't you smell the Gatorade?"

"You, the satyr and you," She gestured to me and Leo, "take the girl to Phoebe. She'll be healed in no time."

Jason eyed me. "Actually, Pepper, can you stay?"

I tucked my hair behind my ear. "Of course." I sat next to him. Thalia didn't look happy, but I ignored it.

For a couple of minutes, nobody spoke. Jason grabbed my hand as I slightly blushed. We held hands before, yes, but now he was doing it in front of other people.

"Thalia, what happened to our family? Who told you I died?"

Thalia tugged at a bracelet on her wrist. "You don't remember anything?"

He shook his head, "I woke up on a bus three days ago with Leo and Piper."

She looked at me, expecting me to elaborate.

"I wasn't on the bus." I shrugged. "I'm Pepper." I hadn't realized it before, but what were the odds that the two of us would have such similar names.

"Hera stole my memories and put me there." He shrugged.

"Hera?" Thalia frowned. "How do you know that?"

I let Jason explain the quest. We didn't have much time, so he left out some parts, like the part about me being a daughter of Poseidon and all that. I didn't really want to mention that, because I was still coming to terms with the whole, 'twin brother thing.' And besides, this was Jason's turn to be reunited with his sibling.

"So Hera's been hiding you all these years?"

Jason shrugged. "I don't know. She just left me with enough memory to remember your face." He handed her a picture from his pocket.

Her face softened. "I left that in Cabin One, didn't I?"

Jason nodded. "I had a feeling Hera wanted us to meet. I knew this was the right place to be. Almost like I knew you would be here. Is that crazy?"

Thalia shook her head. "When you're dealing with the gods, nothing is impossible. But you can't trust Hera. She hates all children of Zeus."

I frowned, speaking up. "I'm not a child of Zeus, but she saved me from your dad."

Jason nodded. "She also said that Zeus gave me to her as a peace offering. Does that make any sense?"

"Oh gods." The color drained from her face. "It couldn't be."

"What?" Jason asked. He squeezed my hand a little.

"I'm not sure how to say this. Our mom, wasn't exactly stable. She was an actress in the mortal world and she caught Zeus' eye with her beauty. She could never get enough attention. She drank, and was in tabloids constantly. When she was together with dad, well, she knew who he was. The power went to her head. When he left, she couldn't accept it. Gods don't exactly stick around."

I frowned. Hearing that, I bet I wasn't the only demigod with parental issues.

I watched Jason's face as he heard the rest of the story about his mom. It couldn't have been easy to have an alcoholic parent. Even if he was only a couple of years old. And learning that news now, years later, after an ungodly case of amnesia, it must have stung, a lot.

I turned to Thalia. "How did you get separated?" It was almost a whisper. I probably shouldn't have been there in the first place. It was deep stuff that a stranger like me shouldn't have known.

"We went on vacation in the wine country. Mom sent me back to get the picnic basket. When I came back, mom was crying and you were gone. She said that Hera claimed you, and you were as good as dead. I never told anyone. Not even Percy or Luke, or even Annabeth."

I stiffened. She knew Percy. I could learn more about him.

"Chiron knew. He took one look at me and said, 'You should be dead.'"

"That's weird. I never told him." She looked puzzled. "That's not important right now. What's important is that we've found each other again." She smiled. "You're my age. You're all grown up."

"But where have I been? And what's with all the Roman stuff?"

"Roman stuff?" Thalia looked puzzled again.

"He speaks Latin." I shrugged. All the time at camp before this quest had been a blur of anxiety. I didn't really know what was going on.

"I call gods by their Roman names." He gave her a rundown of the Aquilion thing, and the son of Jupiter stuff.

"Latin? Zeus spoke Latin before mom had you. Maybe that's why."

"Do you think he was in his Roman form? Is that why I think of myself as a child of Jupiter?"

"I don't know. Maybe. I've never heard of that before. It might explain why you think of things in Roman terms. It doesn't explain how you survived without the Camp. A child of Zeus, or Jupiter, would be hunted endlessly by monsters. You would have needed training,a safe haven."

"There was another demigod like him." I blurted. The attention was turned on me. "In Detroit, Piper said the Cyclops told her about a son of Mercury. There might be another place for demigods."

"I've never heard of one. Still--" She trailed off.

"What?"

" I'll have to talk to Artemis."

"She's still talking to you? Most of the gods have gone silent."

I snorted. "Not really. I've heard from my dad twice, your dad once. Leo heard from his dad. We met Boreas and Kihone. Hera summoned all of us."

Jason eyed me. "Okay, well some of the gods have gone silent."

"Artemis follows her own rules. She thinks Zeus is ridiculous for closing olympus. She put us on Lycaon's trail. She said it would help us find a missing demigod from camp."

I gasped. "Percy. My brother."