Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xiv. happy birthday to ophelia imai

THE NIGHT THE ROMANS LEFT, the camp felt empty. Ophelia already missed Hazel and Frank. She missed the creaking timbers of the Argo II. Gods, she even missed hearing Leo sing as loudly and horribly as he could down in the engine room.

Or maybe she just missed Leo.

Ghosts didn't appear in Camp Half-Blood—the magical borders around the camp made sure of that. Even so, she couldn't quite stop herself from looking around, waiting to see a translucent, grinning son of Hephaestus, to hear him crack one last joke before going down to Elysium where he belonged.

But maybe he wasn't a ghost—maybe he was still out there, somewhere. It felt more like a pipe dream than anything, but the hope was all that kept her from crumbling into pieces.

She couldn't fall asleep that night. All of her half-siblings were sleeping peacefully in the bunks. For the first time in three days, no one had fallen asleep crying. The cabin was completely and utterly silent.

Jeremy's bunk was made-up. His sword laid on top of the comforter. Travis and Connor hadn't been able to take it back to the armory just yet. Ophelia couldn't blame them. Jeremy was the cabin's first loss since Luke, and it hit them all hard. When they'd burned his shroud a few nights ago, Ophelia had sent up a prayer to her father.

Lead him to Matt, she'd asked him. They deserve to know each other.

She didn't know if Jeremy would reunite with Luke Castellan in the afterlife, too. After the things Luke had done, it would have been a miracle of miracles for him to end up in Elysium. But if the thought of Luke being there, waiting to welcome Jeremy, eased her siblings' grief, she was more than happy to play along.

She glanced at her wristwatch—courtesy of Leo. She'd forgotten it at Camp Half-Blood when they left on the Argo II. Now, she couldn't picture herself ever taking it off.

12:02.

She was officially seventeen.

It didn't seem fair.

Before Ophelia could sink into even more depressing thoughts, she heard a tapping sound on her window. She frowned, turning her head to the window.

She almost had a heart attack. Jason was standing outside of her window, grinning. Piper was right behind him, waving up at her.

Ophelia glanced around at her siblings, making sure none of them had stirred. She walked over to the window, opening it.

"Happy birthday," Jason whispered. "Come on."

"What are you two doing here?" she whispered back. "It's after curfew. The patrol harpies are going to have a feast."

"Just come on, Phee," Piper said.

Letting out a sigh, Ophelia took Jason's hand and climbed out of her window.

Piper threw an arm over her shoulder, poking her in the ribs. "How come I had to find out when your birthday was from Jason?" she asked. "We're supposed to be best friends."

"I don't know when your birthday is," Ophelia pointed out.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Well, it's January 3rd, so plan accordingly."

The trio walked to Cabin One. Jason led them inside, where the huge statue of Hippie Zeus glowered in the dim light.

"Okay, what...?" Ophelia started to ask.

"Check it out." Jason showed them one of the marble columns that ringed the circular chamber. On the back, almost hidden against the wall, iron rungs led upward—a ladder. "Can't believe I didn't notice this sooner. Wait 'til you see!"