Screaming-Incoherently

Plus, it was really cold. Odessa hated winter with a burning passion and she dressed like it: black boot-cut jeans over fleece-lined tights, fluffy socks and steel-toed combat boots (just in case), and a long-sleeved black sweater with a dark grey oversized fleece-lined denim jacket on top.

Coach Hedge blew his obnoxiously loud whistle, herding everyone toward the museum. The four of them—Odessa, Piper, Jason, and Leo—hung back, trailing slightly behind the main group so they were out of earshot.

“So,” Leo started, in a helpful tone that meant he was going to be anything but helpful. “We go to the ‘Wilderness School’”—Leo made air quotes with his fingers— “Which means we’re ‘bad kids.’ Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, ‘boarding school’—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on ‘educational’ field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?”

Odessa rolled her eyes at Leo’s explanation. He made them sound like hardened criminals—which wasn't wrong, but certainly wasn't helping Jason, who was now staring wide-eyed at the other kids like he thought one of them was going to axe murder him.

“Our class is mostly just kids with theft or drug charges,” Odessa assured him, not wanting Jason to freak out and accidentally fry someone. “The most dangerous person here is Leo, but that's only because he likes to mess with the electrical outlets and start fires.”

Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes at Odessa's comment. “That was one time, and I barely caused any damage!”

Jason was shaking, clearly overwhelmed with the entire situation. Or maybe he was just shivering from the cold. Taking a better look at him, Odessa frowned, noticing the purple t-shirt that was clearly a Camp Jupiter shirt without the letters. Jason was dressed for California weather, not Nevada in December, who/whatever had brought him here clearly hadn't thought it through very well.

“Here,” Odessa shrugged off her fleece-lined jacket, a jacket—she suddenly remembered—that Jason had given her a year earlier during a quest up in Montana. Shoving down the sudden onslaught of conflicting emotions, Odessa held it out for Jason to take, hoping he didn't question why it fit him perfectly. She wasn’t Jason’s biggest fan at the moment, but it wouldn’t be helpful if he froze. “We don't want you to have frostbite and amnesia.”

“Thank you,” Jason said, gratefully taking the jacket and slipping it on. Some of the tension left his shoulders almost immediately, and when Jason smiled at her, Odessa fought the urge to scream, or cry, or maybe both.

A few moments went by, and Odessa didn't realize she'd just been standing there, holding eye contact with Jason, until Piper cleared her throat. “Yeah, no problem,” Odessa said quickly, a slightly awkward smile on her face. She looked away, mentally cursing herself for not being able to get it together. 

Leo—as always—quickly filled the silence. “Anyway, the three of us”—he pointed at himself, Piper, and Jason—”started out here together this semester, and Odessa joined about halfway through November. We're all best friends, and you do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—”

“Leo!” Piper glared at him.

Leo raised his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, okay, ignore that last part. Except for the friends part, we are friends.” He paused for a moment, smirking at Piper, “well, Piper's a little more than your friend, and Odessa's secretly in love with m—”

Odessa elbowed Leo in the side just as Piper snapped, “Leo! Stop it.”

Piper looked incredibly flustered, and Jason also was suddenly very red. More than a friend?… It took Odessa a moment longer than it should have to realize the meaning behind that statement. She was silent for a moment, doing her best to keep her expression as neutral as possible.

Leo—who had doubled over after Odessa elbowed him—took a moment to catch his breath before straightening. He shot Odessa a playful glare before turning back to Piper and Jason with an impish grin on his face. “What?” He teased, “Jason should know that—”

“Leo!” Piper insisted, her eyes wide as she looked between him and Jason. “He's got amnesia of something,” she said, sounding genuinely worried. Piper turned to Odessa, obviously not trusting Leo to take the situation seriously. “We should tell somebody.”

Odessa grimaced, quickly shaking her head in response. Telling somebody was the last thing they should do, getting mortals involved into half-blood business was always a terrible idea. It was bad enough that Piper and Leo had gotten dragged into this, Odessa didn't need adults getting in her way too.

Thankfully, Leo seemed equally against the idea. “Who would we tell?” He countered, raising his eyebrows at Piper, “Coach Hedge? He'd try and fix Jason by whacking him upside the head with his bat.”

Odessa nodded in agreement. Hedge could see through the Mist, and that made him a gamble she wasn't willing to take right now. While Odessa had originally been all for the idea of handing Jason over to Hedge, now that she knew he'd lost his memories, clearly someone had sent him to where she was going to school for a reason. Odessa wasn’t going to involve anyone unless she knew for certain they weren’t a threat.

“But guys,” Piper continued to insist, “Jason needs help. He's got a concussion or—”

“Yo, 'Dessa.”

Odessa stilled, recognizing the voice instantly. Her patience was already stretched thin with the whole Jason-showing-up-with-amnesia-and-fucking-shit-up situation, Odessa didn't want to have to deal with Dylan too.

Dylan was like if Superman only had a third grade education. Muscular, handsome, the whitest smile known to man, but absolutely fucking stupid. He was dressed like he was going to a Stampede, and he spoke with a southern drawl that Odessa knew was fake as fuck.

Dylan wedged his way between Odessa and Jason, flashing her a smile clearly designed to drive women crazy. “Don't talk to these bottom feeders,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “you're my partner remember?”

“Like hell I am,” Odessa replied, attempting to push him away.

Dylan was surprisingly strong and didn't budge as she shoved him. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and Dylan laughed as if she'd cracked a joke. “Don't be difficult, darling,” he chided, beginning to half lead/half drag Odessa away from the group. “Come on, this is your lucky day!”

“Hey!” Jason stepped forward, grabbing Dylan's arm, “she said she doesn't want to go with you.”

Dylan scoffed, sizing up Jason with a laid-back grin. He didn't take his arm off of Odessa's shoulders, instead tightening his hold on her. “Careful now,” Dylan warned, leaning a little closer to Jason and whispering, “I’ll give her back afterwards, no need to start picking fights.”

Odessa rolled her eyes, trying and failing to pull away from Dylan one last time before giving up. Coach Hedge was already suspicious of Jason, she didn't want to push it by causing a scene. “It's fine Jason,” Odessa told him, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, “I'll catch up with you guys later.”

Dylan smirked triumphantly and Odessa was tempted to let Jason fight him just to wipe that stupid grin off his face. She let Dylan lead her towards the museum, tuning out whatever nonsense he was rambling on about.

Odessa didn’t pay much attention to the exhibits. She halfheartedly scanned a few infographics, the tour guide’s voice fading to incoherent background noise. Odessa was too busy worrying about Jason, about how he got his amnesia, about how he'd react to her presence when he got his memories back.

If he got his memories back.

Odessa stilled as that thought crossed her mind. If. Jason might not regain his memories. She didn't have to search for whatever monster caused his amnesia. If Jason didn't remember the war, didn't remember the arguments, the choices that had driven them apart, Odessa could have a second chance, without the pressure of being half-bloods weighing them down.

She glanced back at Jason, and the thought immediately disappeared from her mind. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he was looking at the world with wide, lost eyes. Instantly Odessa knew she was going to do whatever it took to get Jason's memories back. She might not be his biggest fan right now, but she wasn’t cruel enough to manipulate him into being her friend again.

“Thinking about something interesting?”

Odessa flinched, suddenly pulled out of her thoughts and back into reality. Dylan had gotten even closer to her, leaning in to whisper his question in her ear, his surprisingly cold breath tickling her neck. At some point while she was distracted they'd left the museum and entered onto the skywalk, a long horseshoe shaped walkway made entirely of glass.

“No,” Odessa lied smoothly, fighting back the urge to glance over at Jason. “I’m just tired, it's been a long day.”

The wind blew a little stronger now than it had before, her dark tresses fluttering like tendrils of shadows. Dylan chuckled, the sound as annoyingly perfect as his smile. “I'm sure it has been,” he agreed, leaning casually against the railing. “How does it feel to see Jason again after all that happened between you two?”

Odessa stilled. She started to reach for her knife before realizing she'd given her jacket to Jason. Shit. Dylan smirked at her, as if he could sense her realization that she was absolutely fucked. Over Dylan's shoulder, Odessa could see Jason and Leo, both of them looking up at the sky instead of down at the canyon. Glancing up, it became very obvious why. A circle of storm clouds, perfectly positioned over the walkway, while the rest of the sky was perfectly clear.

“You're a ventus,” Odessa muttered, cursing herself for not noticing the signs earlier. “What do you want with me? How do you know about Jason?”

Electricity crackled in Dylan's eyes, his grin widening. “I’m impressed, ‘Dessa,” Dylan praised, dropping his fake southern accent, “even your so-called protector hasn't caught on to what I am yet.” He nodded towards Coach Hedge, who was still glaring over at Jason every few seconds.

Odessa frowned. Protector? She wasn't entirely sure what Coach Hedge was, but he certainly wasn’t much of a protector. In her peripherals, she noticed Jason mutter something to Leo and Piper before walking towards Coach Hedge. They made brief eye contact as he walked past and Odessa forced a smile before turning back to Dylan.

“What do you know about Jason's amnesia?” She demanded, not bothering to keep her voice down. The wind had picked up enough that only Dylan was close enough to hear her, the storm clouds growing darker and darker the longer they spent on the skywalk.

Dylan shrugged, his blinding smile disappearing for a moment while he contemplated his answer. “Not much. My mistress is not responsible for it, I know that for sure.” He leaned back against the railing, scanning the clusters of teenagers spread out around the skywalk. “She is a fair lady, much less volatile than Saturn was. I'm sure you two would get along well.”

The wind around them calmed down slightly, the eye of the storm forming around Dylan. “I don't involve myself with that kind of business anymore,” she told him firmly, her eyes still watching Jason as he spoke to Hedge across the skywalk. “I've made that mistake once, I'm not doing it again.”

Dylan sighed disappointedly. “You’ve chosen your side out of fear, Odessa,” he warned her, his eyes crackling with electricity. “You are stronger than that.” Dylan pushed himself off of the railing, momentarily blinding her with that freakishly white smile. “My offer remains, if you change your mind later,” he promised, glancing up at the storm clouds gathering above. “I'd go back inside, if I were you. My mistress has business with the other half-bloods, and I don't want to hurt you if I don't have to.” 

Odessa's attention snapped to Dylan, “what business? What other half-bloods?”

Dylan grinned, nodding in the direction of Leo and Piper. “Your friends. You didn't know they were demigods?” He chuckled, shaking his head, “well, I guess it is harder for you to sense it than it is for me.” He shrugged nonchalantly, giving Odessa one last award-winning smile. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill your friends.”

And before Odessa could react, Dylan snapped his fingers and the storm descended on the skywalk in full force.

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It was hereditary. A curse passed down through her family's genetic code, resulting in one train wreck after another. Her grandmother drank herself to death after losing all her money to a gambling addiction. Her father had a psychotic break and burned their house down. And Odessa fought in a war against the gods because a blonde guy convinced her she was worth something.

The war ended in a massacre, hundreds of friends and allies cut down before her very eyes. Odessa was one of the few left to pick up the pieces afterwards, to glue herself back together and force her way forward. She’d gone back to the mortal world, running from monsters and Romans alike. Then after one particularly disastrous run-in with the law, Odessa was shipped off to a school full of mentally unstable delinquents, a place she unfortunately fit right into.

It had all led her to today. The war, the fallout, getting sent to reform school, the fates had designed it for this moment, sitting on a cracked leather seat on a crowded school bus, staring into the eyes of the boy who'd once meant the world to her. The boy who’d walked away without a second thought.

Jason. Fucking. Grace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason Grace was here. Jason Grace was here. Even in the warped reflection of the window, she recognized him easily, ‘sleeping’ in the once-empty seat behind her. A mix of anger and apprehension spread through Odessa’s body like a wildfire, screaming at her to run away/fight him/grab him and demand to know why he'd come back to bother her after all this time.

It had been months since the Battle of Mount Orthys. Odessa had kept her head down, staying out of trouble. Jason shouldn’t have been able to find her, much less make it this close. She fought the urge to reach for the dagger tucked into the inner pocket of her jacket, her fingers itching to curl around the handle of a weapon. Jason wouldn't be here without a plan, and Odessa knew better than to start swinging without understanding her situation first.

Jason was sitting next to Piper McLean, a freakishly pretty girl and one of the only people Odessa tolerated at this school. From the way Piper was looking at Jason—and how she wasn’t freaking out about a stranger suddenly appearing beside her—it was obvious she was under the influence of the mist. Odessa’s eyes narrowed at Jason’s reflection, manipulating the mist was a feat few demigods could master, she wondered what else Jason had learned since the last time they’d seen each other. 

Her eyes closed for a moment as she sank deeper into her seat, an irritated exhale leaving Odessa’s lips. She was having a hard enough time trying to blend in in the mortal world, Odessa didn't need Jason coming in and ruining everything she'd built. Leo Valdez—the impish, hyperactive, Santa’s elf she was sitting next to—glanced up from the mess of pipe cleaners and rubber bands he was fiddling with to raise an eyebrow curiously at her. Odessa waved him off, rubbing her temples in an attempt to soothe the growing pounding in her head.

She glanced back at Jason’s reflection, only to find him wide awake… and staring directly at her. Odessa quickly averted her gaze, desperately trying to come up with a plan to get out of this situation.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Coach Hedge yelling something unintelligible at the front of the bus. The Coach was a mountain of a man—or he would have been, if he wasn't the same height as a fifth grader. Hedge liked to compensate for his height by being extraordinarily loud, both in the way he dressed and spoke. His neon orange polo shirt made him look like a traffic cone, and despite sitting at the back of the bus, when he started talking it felt as though he was yelling in her ear.

As the Coach lectured them about not causing trouble at the canyon, Odessa noticed Hedge’s beady eyes narrow slightly as they flicked to Jason. She sat up straighter in her seat, fighting the urge to glance behind her. Nobody else had reacted so far in response to Jason Grace's sudden appearance on their field trip. But if the Coach wasn't affected by the Mist—plus he didn't look happy to see Jason—that meant Odessa had a potential ally if Jason tried to drag her back to camp for judgement.

“All right Cupcakes!” Coach Hedge announced, tearing his eyes away from Jason. “We'll be at the canyon in five minutes. Stay with your partner, and don't be stupid or else.”

That last part seemed directed at the back of the bus, and from the way Hedge's grip tightened on his baseball bat, Odessa had a feeling Hedge might try and ‘take care’ of Jason himself.

“Can he talk to us that way?” Jason worriedly whispered to Piper, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He sounded anxious, as if he wasn't fully capable of blasting the Coach to ash if he wanted to.

Odessa turned around to face Jason, resting an arm on the back of her seat. She wanted a better look at him, to try and figure out what was going on. “Of course, he can,” she told him, deciding to play along with Jason's façade to try and figure out what his intentions were. “We go to the Wilderness School. ‘Where the kids are the animals.’”

She said it with a wicked gleam in her eyes but paired it with a joking smile. Looking at Jason now, Odessa almost couldn't believe this was the same guy who toppled the Black Throne last August. He was too tense, his eyes darting around like he didn't know where he was, his fists clenching and unclenching over and over again.

“This is some kind of mistake,” Jason told them, his eyes darting between Piper and Odessa, practically begging them to believe him. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

That threw Odessa off. Jason Grace was a lot of things and a good liar wasn't one of them. It was obvious that he was telling the truth—or at least what he believed to be the truth—which made Odessa's life a hell of a lot harder.

Leo—never one to be left out of a conversation—turned around to grin impishly at Jason. “Of course, Jason. We’ve all been framed! I didn’t run away six times. Piper didn’t steal a BMW. Odessa didn't—” he glanced over at her, “what did you do again?”

Odessa, who had no intention of telling anyone that story, simply answered “drugs.” just as Piper protested, “I didn't steal that car Leo!”

Leo scoffed, “oh, I forgot, Piper. What was your story? You ‘talked’ the dealer into lending it to you?”

The two continued arguing, and Odessa tuned them out, turning back to scrutinise Jason.

“You really remember nothing?” She asked, wondering if now that Piper and Leo were distracted, she'd catch a glimpse of the real Jason in those strikingly blue eyes of his. Odessa was hoping it was all a ploy to get her to drop her guard, that any second now Jason would drop the façade and threaten/beg/try to convince her to come back to Camp. Not that she could even if she wanted to, Reyna would have her hung, drawn and quartered the second Odessa stepped foot on Roman soil.

But Jason seemed dead set on playing the amnesia route. “Nothing,” he promised, his eyes staring pleadingly into hers, sincerity written all over his face. Odessa's heart dropped, Jason was being truthful, and that meant something worse was going on, something that already managed to pull one over on one of the strongest demigods she'd ever met.

Odessa opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Leo, whose argument with Piper had gotten steadily louder.

“I’m just saying, I doubt a guy just gave you the keys to a brand new BM—”

“Leo Valdez!” Piper and Leo both shut up as Coach Hedge yelled from the front, “is there a problem back there?”

He was gripping his baseball bat like he really, really wanted there to be a problem.

Leo glanced slyly over at Odessa, “watch this!” He winked at her before turning to the front. “Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Could you use your megaphone, please?”

The glee in the Coach’s eyes as Leo mentioned the megaphone sent a shiver down Odessa's spine. Hedge unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued to give directions, except his voice came out sounding like Darth Vader's. Odessa held back a snicker, then burst out into full laughter when Coach tried again and a loud “Moo!” sounded from the megaphone.

“Valdez!” Hedge yelled, slamming the megaphone against a seat to try and fix it.

Leo grinned at Odessa, winking playfully at her. Odessa stifled another laugh, enjoying the sight of Coach Hedge yelling at the megaphone while trying to fix it. “How'd you do that?” She asked, momentarily forgetting about the Jason problem as her attention shifted to Leo.

“I'm a special boy,” Leo answered, leaning in a little bit closer to her.

“Guys!” Jason interrupted, his eyes darting between Odessa and Leo. For a split second, there was something in his eyes as Jason looked at Odessa—not recognition, but close enough that it made her freeze for a moment. As Odessa and Leo both turned to look at Jason, he hesitated for a moment before speaking, as if he didn't actually have something to say and was now scrambling for words. “W-what am I doing here? Where are we going?”

Piper furrowed her brows, staring at Jason with confusion written all over her face. “Jason, are you joking?”

Odessa bit her lip, staying silent. As far as she knew, Piper and Leo were mortals, and it would take too long to explain the whole Mist-warping-memories thing. She'd wait until this field trip was over, then corner Jason and figure out what was going on. Hopefully it was simple enough that Odessa could solve the problem discreetly. She didn't want to drag anyone else into demigod business.

“Of course he’s joking,” Leo insisted, giving Jason a look Odessa couldn't quite read. “Jason’s just trying to get me back for the whole shaving cream on the Jell-O incident, right?” Leo raised an eyebrow at Jason, letting out a laugh that seemed a little forced, “at least the Jell-o thing was funny. Amnesia’s a little far, Jay.”

Jason just stared helplessly at Leo, confusion etched across his face. The sight made Odessa uncomfortable, seeing Jason like this dragged up emotions she'd longed since buried, and she had to fight the urge to reach out and comfort him.

“Leo… I think he's serious.” Piper reached for Jason's hand, concern flickering in her eyes. “Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?”

Jason pulled his hand away from Piper's, his eyes desperately scanning the three of them. “I don't…” he admitted, taking a shaky breath before continuing, “I don't even know who I am.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~