Where You Go ― Jason Grace

iv. hera delivers a godly ultimatum

CHIRON INVITED THEM inside, sending Drew back to her cabin. Ophelia was glad when the girl walked away—her excessive touchiness with Jason had been grating on her nerves, as was the fact that she didn't even understand why it pissed her off so much.

"Follow me," the centaur said. "We have lemonade."

Grapevines covered the walls of the living room, running across the ceiling as well. Ophelia wasn't sure how they were able to grow inside, especially given the season, but they were leafy green and bursting with bunches of red grapes.

Ophelia looked up at a stuffed leopard's head hung above the fireplace, so real-looking that its eyes seemed to move. It snarled at Jason, and Ophelia felt him nearly jump out of his skin next to her.

"Now, Seymour," Chiron chided. "Jason is a friend. Behave yourself."

Chiron threw a Snausage to the leopard, who snatched it up and licked his lips. "You must excuse the decor," Chiron said. "All this was a parting gift from our old director before he was recalled to Mount Olympus. He thought it would help us remember him. Mr. D has a strange sense of humor."

"Mr. D," Jason said. "Dionysus?"

"Mmm hmm." Chiron poured three glasses of lemonade, though his hands seemed to tremble slightly. He and Jason carried on a conversation about the old camp director and Seymour's origins, Ophelia watching in silence. She could tell that Chiron was wary of her as well, though he hadn't recognized her the way he recognized Jason. She supposed that was a good thing—he had said Jason was supposed to be dead.

"So, Jason, Ophelia," Chiron said. "Would you mind telling me—ah—where you're from?"

"I wish we knew," Jason sighed. 

Ophelia let Jason tell the story, only chiming in when he left out a detail or she needed to speak from her own experience. Chiron didn't react aside from nodding encouragingly for either of them to continue.

When Jason was done, Chiron took a sip of his lemonade. "You only remember each other?" he asked for clarification.

Ophelia nodded. "Just names," she muttered, looking over at Jason briefly. "Everything else is... blank."

"I see," Chiron said. "Well, you must have questions for me."

"I have one," Ophelia spoke up. "Any reason in particular those... naiads? Is that what they're called? Is there a reason they tried to drown me?" 

Chiron regarded her with inquisitive eyes. "They tried to drown you?" 

Ophelia nodded. "Yeah, they grabbed my wrists and tried to drag me down." She tried to push away the memory of panic that had flared up when the lake water hit her lungs. "Is that... normal?" 

"No," Chiron confessed. "That's highly unusual—naiads are typically friendly, especially the ones in the canoe lake. Though I suppose they could be on edge what with Percy being missing." At Ophelia's raised eyebrow, he elaborated, "Percy is a son of Poseidon. The naiads here are rather partial toward him—it would make sense that they're agitated now that he's missing." 

Jason frowned. "But they helped Piper and Leo back to the surface," he said, which was news to Ophelia. "It was like they targeted Ophelia." 

"That is... strange," Chiron said quietly. "I will have a talk with them. Until then, it may be best to steer clear of the lake." 

"That won't be a problem," Ophelia muttered. 

"Do you have any other questions?" Chiron asked.