Archive of Our Own ^beta

Leo, Jason and Piper had been following Clarisse and Will into the forest for the better part of an hour by now. One of the newer campers had gotten lost in the forest a few days ago, and Chiron had decided it was essential to ensure everyone knew all of the paths.

Although Jason had to admit he hadn’t realised how large the forest surrounding Camp Half-Blood was. It felt so wild, in a way he’d never experienced before. Camp Jupiter was also surrounded by woods, but the Romans had never cared much for nature spirits, and Jason was still getting used to how respected they were by the Greeks.

“We’re almost back to the pavilion.” Clarisse announced and Jason couldn’t have been more relieved. The woods were beautiful but it was boiling and he couldn’t wait to get back to the air-conditioning of Cabin 1. Their walk had mostly been the three of them chatting, with Will or Clarisse chiming in every so often, or throwing out a comment about “giant acidic ants.” Jason had just decided not to ask. He’d been doing that a lot recently with the Greeks.

He’d known that the Greek style was meant to be more instinctive than the Romans but that hadn’t quite prepared him for the actual Greeks. Everyone he’d actually talked to had been great, and they were all pretty amazing fighters but Jason couldn’t quite wrap his head around the lack of discipline. It was just so … un-roman.

Jason was pulled out of his thoughts by Will yanking him back by his collar. He looked down and realised he’d almost walked face-first into a massive chasm in the ground. It was only a few feet wide but it was completely black and he couldn’t see the bottom.

“You okay?” Will asked concern flashing across his face.

“Yeah.” Jason said, attempting a shaky grin. “Is that … natural?” He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, there had been too many comments about monster nests dropped far too casually for his liking.

“Nah, entrance to the underworld.” Clarisse called. “It’s closed off now though.” She said it as though it was meant to be reassuring.

“Hold on what? The underworld? As in that goes straight down to the honest-to-gods land-of-the-dead underworld?” Leo asked, doing a time out signal with his hands. At least he sounded as panicked as Jason felt and Piper looked similarly worried.

“Well like I said they closed it off, so now it’s just a really deep chasm.” Clarisse shrugged, looking at Leo as though it should be obvious.

“Or they just stopped anything from coming through.” Will said. “I still wouldn’t suggest jumping in, I don’t know where you’d end up.”

Clarisse just grunted in agreement. “Ask Di Angelo, he got back last night.” She started to lead them round the edge of the chasm. Jason frowned, the name Di Angelo sounded weirdly familiar, but he couldn’t get through the fog that still surrounded some of his memories.

“But why?” Piper asked with an undertone of panic, but it was only really obvious if you were paying very close attention. Jason nodded in agreement, he knew the Greeks were a little eccentric by nature but an entrance to the underworld right in the middle of their camp seemed weird even for them.

“Adds character.” Will grinned, although Jason was too caught up in his head to notice the pained looks Will and Clarisse sent towards the rock formation known as Zeus’ fist. “Sure.” Jason thought hysterically. “It adds character. Along with the literal dragon guarding the literal golden fleece, the harpies who wash up with lava and asbestos and eat you if you're out past curfew. Not to mention the climbing wall with lava pouring down it, and the literal oracle who lives in a cave. Why not?" Jason was seriously starting to worry about his sanity if he stayed at Camp Half-Blood any longer.

“Is that … safe?” Piper asked.

“Like I said it’s been closed off, and Lord Hades wouldn’t attack the camp or anything so there’s nothing to worry about.” Clarisse said. Her tone was pretty reassuring, but her words didn’t help much.

“Didn’t he attack my sister though? And I heard he tried to kill Percy on his way to camp?” It had something to do with the minotaur or a hellhound. Jason wasn’t sure but he hadn’t been able to go a day without hearing something about Percy since he arrived.

“Well yeah, but I’m pretty sure that was just because of the whole stolen lightning bolt thing, he doesn’t usually have anything against demigods. Also he and Percy are on good terms now.”

Clarisse snorted. “More like Prissy’s broken into the underworld so many times Hades just ignores him now.”

“Why would anyone break into the underworld?” Leo said, and Jason could tell he was also getting more and more confused by this conversation.

“Pretty sure he and Annabeth just go for playdates with Cerberus nowadays.” Will said with a shrug. “They take Mrs O’Leary with them.” He added when he saw the confused looks on their faces.

“Who’s Mrs O’Leary?” Jason asked hesitantly, he didn’t think he was gonna like the answer.

“Prissy’s hellhound, she's a sweetheart.” Clarisse said, strangely fondly for her.

“Percy’s … hellhound?” Piper asked. Jason was so relieved he wasn’t the only one weirded out by this. He’d thought it might just be a Greek-Roman culture shock, but at least Piper and Leo seemed similarly confused.

“Yeah she’s out looking for him with Tyson at the minute, I’ll introduce you when they get back.” Clarisse smiled as if being introduced to a hellhound was the most normal thing in the world. Well, maybe it was for the Greeks.

“Careful La Rue, it’s starting to sound like you care.” Will smirked. Jason was pretty sure if anyone else had said that they’d be lying on the ground sporting a broken nose but Clarisse just rolled her eyes.

It made sense Jason supposed, according to Annabeth on his first day one of the main rules of Camp Half-Blood was “whatever you do don’t piss off the medics”

“Who’s Tyson?” Piper asked more calmly now and Jason realised she was trying to get the conversation back to a more normal topic.

“Percy’s half-brother. I hope they come back soon, I haven’t seen Tyson in ages.” Will answered.

“I haven’t seen him since Manhattan.” Clarisse agreed “He’s always been at the forges or looking for Percy.”

“The forges?” Leo asked, already buzzing with excitement just with the mention of the word. “How come I haven’t met him yet?”

“The undersea forges.” Will corrected. “He’s a cyclops.”

Piper flinched slightly at that and squeezed his hand tighter.

Jason was trying not to judge, he knew he probably had just as many monstrous half-brothers, but he wouldn’t really refer to them as such. Although Jason supposed if the guy had a pet hellhound he probably wasn’t too bothered by the whole monster thing. And Clarisse and Will both seemed to like Tyson and Mrs O’Leary so maybe not all monsters were evil? Then again he wasn’t sure he should be going off the Greek metric for…well, anything really. Jason rubbed his temples, this was a lot for a random tuesday.

“And he lives here?” Jason asked, trying not to sound too rude.

“No, but he visits.” Clarisse said. “You know those lanterns on the path to the cabins with the crazy intricate designs? He made those for us.“

“No way, the metalwork on those is insane.” Leo said, almost vibrating with excitement. “Do you know when he’s gonna get back?”

Will shrugged, “Ask Annabeth, she’ll probably know. You’ll love him though, the guys amazing with metal.”

Clarisse grunted in agreement. “I don’t know much about metalwork in general but he made most of the older campers' weapons.”

Leo whistled appreciatively, weapons weren’t exactly his forte, but he could still appreciate good workmanship when he saw it.

The campers who had been here for years all had amazing weapons, way better than most in the armoury, along with a collection of back-ups that looked like they’d been stolen off of monsters.

They probably had to be honest.

“He made my throwing knives.” Will agreed, pulling several out of various concealed pockets. Even from where he was standing Jason could see the craftsmanship and effort that would have gone into making them.

It also unsettled him slightly, he hadn’t even noticed Will was carrying any weapons on him, and was fighting the urge to reach for his sword.

“Beckendorf used to be so happy whenever he visited camp because they were the only two people trusted with their weapons.” Clarisse laughed, but her eyes looked sad.

Apparently many of the campers, especially the ones who had been here for longer, were extremely protective of their weapons and so one Hephaestus kid was usually unofficially designated the “weapons-master.” Jason was pretty sure that it was now Nyssa, or Jake when he wasn’t out of action.

Despite not being in Cabin 9 Jason had heard about Beckendorf, the guy was almost as much of a legend as Percy Jackson was. Rumour had it he was able to make or fix anything you asked for. He’d also heard stories about exploding chariots, and Greek fire and once again, he’d just decided not to ask.

“Even if Tyson’s weapon of choice is just a club.” Will quipped, although Jason could see the pain that hid in his eyes as well.

This was apparently hilarious, as for some reason Clarisse burst into laughter. “I am never going to forget Zeus’ face when he asked for a new stick.” She snorted.

Will joined in the laughter. “Between him and Percy I’m surprised he didn’t have an aneurysm.” Jason closed his eyes, ready for a lightning bolt to come down and strike them for laughing at the king of the gods. He heard a roll of thunder in the distance and tensed up, bracing for impact, but for some reason Will and Clarisse just rolled their eyes, and Clarisse muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like a curse in Ancient Greek.

Jason decided he didn’t want to know what Percy had said to Zeus, he was sure it would only raise his blood pressure even higher than it already was.

Will and Clarisse pulled ahead, saying something about “peanut butter,” and “sticks.” Jason really, really, didn’t want to know.

Leo and Piper hung back with him, both looking slightly shell-shocked as well.

“I should’ve just stayed in Nevada, man.” Leo muttered, fiddling with a little automaton he’d pulled out of his tool belt.

Jason wasn’t sure he disagreed.