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she was and how obviously she should be the one who went on the quest—but that attention had nothing to do<br />
with who she was. New dress, new makeup, glowing pink aura, and boom: suddenly people liked her. Jason felt<br />
like he understood that.<br />
Last night when he‘d called down lightning, the other campers‘ reactions had seemed familiar to him. He<br />
was pretty sure he‘d been dealing with that for a long time—people looking at him in awe just because he was<br />
the son of Zeus, treating him special, but it didn‘t have anything to do with him. Nobody cared about him, just<br />
his big scary daddy standing behind him with the doomsday bolt, as if to say, Respect this kid or eat voltage!<br />
After the campfire, when people started heading back to their cabins, Jason had gone up to Piper and<br />
formally asked her to come with him on the quest.<br />
She‘d still been in a state of shock, but she nodded, rubbing her arms, which must‘ve been cold in that<br />
sleeveless dress.<br />
―Aphrodite took my snowboarding jacket,‖ she muttered. ―Mugged by my own mom.‖<br />
In the first row of the amphitheater, Jason found a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. ―We‘ll get<br />
you a new jacket,‖ he promised.<br />
She managed a smile. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, but he restrained himself. He didn‘t want<br />
her to think he was as shallow as everyone else—trying to make a move on her because she‘d turned all<br />
beautiful.<br />
He was glad Piper was going with him on the quest. Jason had tried to act brave at the campfire, but it<br />
was just that—an act. <strong>The</strong> idea of going up against an evil force powerful enough to kidnap Hera scared him<br />
witless, especially since he didn‘t even know his own past. He‘d need help, and it felt right: Piper should be with<br />
him. But things were already complicated without figuring out how much he liked her, and why. He‘d already<br />
messed with her head enough.<br />
He slipped on his new shoes, ready to get out of that cold, empty cabin. <strong>The</strong>n he spotted something he<br />
hadn‘t noticed the night before. A brazier had been moved out of one of the alcoves to create a sleeping niche,<br />
with a bedroll, a backpack, even some pictures taped to the wall.<br />
Jason walked over. Whoever had slept there, it had been a long time ago. <strong>The</strong> bedroll smelled musty. <strong>The</strong><br />
backpack was covered with a thin film of dust. Some of the photos once taped to the wall had lost their<br />
stickiness and fallen to the floor.<br />
One picture showed Annabeth—much younger, maybe eight, but Jason could tell it was she: same blond<br />
hair and gray eyes, same distracted look like she was thinking a million things at once. She stood next to a<br />
sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mischievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt.<br />
He was pointing to an alley behind them, like he was telling the photographer, Let‟s go meet things in a dark<br />
alley and kill them! A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy sitting at a campfire, laughing<br />
hysterically.<br />
Finally Jason picked up one of the photos that had fallen. It was a strip of pictures like you‘d take in a doit-yourself<br />
photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy, but with another girl between them. She was<br />
maybe fifteen, with black hair—choppy like Piper‘s—a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked<br />
kind of goth; but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was clear she was with her two best friends.<br />
―That‘s Thalia,‖ someone said.<br />
Jason turned.<br />
Annabeth was peering over his shoulder. Her expression was sad, like the picture bought back hard<br />
memories. ―She‘s the other child of Zeus who lived here—but not for long. Sorry, I should‘ve knocked.‖<br />
―It‘s fine,‖ Jason said. ―Not like I think of this place as home.‖<br />
Annabeth was dressed for travel, with a winter coat over her camp clothes, her knife at her belt, and a<br />
backpack across her shoulder.<br />
Jason said, ―Don‘t suppose you‘ve changed your mind about coming with us?‖<br />
She shook her head. ―You got a good team already. I‘m off to look for Percy.‖<br />
Jason was a little disappointed. He would‘ve appreciated having somebody on the trip who knew what<br />
they were doing, so he wouldn‘t feel like he was leading Piper and Leo off a cliff.<br />
―Hey, you‘ll do fine,‖ Annabeth promised. ―Something tells me this isn‘t your first quest.‖<br />
Jason had a vague suspicion she was right, but that didn‘t make him feel any better. Everyone seemed to<br />
think he was so brave and confident, but they didn‘t see how lost he really felt. How could they trust him when<br />
he didn‘t even know who he was?<br />
He looked at the pictures of Annabeth smiling. He wondered how long it had been since she‘d smiled. She<br />
must really like this Percy guy to search for him so hard, and that made Jason a little envious. Was anyone<br />
searching for him right now? What if somebody cared for him that much and was going out of her mind with<br />
worry, and he couldn‘t even remember his old life?<br />
―You know who I am,‖ he guessed. ―Don‘t you?‖<br />
Annabeth gripped the hilt of her dagger. She looked for a chair to sit on, but of course there weren‘t any.<br />
―Honestly, Jason … I‘m not sure. My best guess, you‘re a loner. It happens sometimes. For one reason or
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