#traitorous

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.

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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.”

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"Harp."

Harp was standing in front of Hawk, a small, weak smile on her face. She was nervous. He had called her here with the only explanation being 'we need to talk'.

Harp had a feeling this was about her recent... activities regarding some of the villains in the city.

But she couldn't find it in herself to be sorry.

Shade had killed another new hero about a week ago.

And seeing their dark blood staining the concrete had been the last straw for her.

She threatened him.

And you know what?

Shade had promised not to kill another aspiring hero, his face pale and covered in blood.

Hawk sighed and ran his fingers through his long, blonde hair. "Harp.... You can't keep doing this."

"Goldie..."

"It's not what heroes do. I can't....." He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "You have to stop."

".... I can't do that, Goldie, I'm sorry..."

"Why? Harp, what happened to you? You used to be..... nice! Now you're....!"

He gestured at her. Harp frowned, hugging herself. His words cut deeper than she wanted to admit. "Goldie, if I don't do this, who will? You guys were just going to let him sit in jail for a day until some other rich, corrupt person paid his bail!"

"That's the law, Harp."

"Well, the law is full of shit! People are dying and you're not DOING anything!"

Goldie narrowed his eyes at her. "We're HEROES, Harp. We don't threaten or kill people."

Harp took a breath. "Then maybe I'm not a hero."

Goldie paused, staring at her. Something in his eyes changed. ".... If you're not a hero, you're a villain."

"Wha- Goldie, no!"

Goldie scoffed and turned away. Harp felt her stomach drop, and her legs moved before she could think. Her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, and she pressed her face into his back. "Goldie..... I promise, I'm not a villain.... I won't ever stoop that low...."

For a moment, he said nothing. Then, he sighed and turned around in her arms, wrapping his arms around her. "Harp...."

Harp closed her eyes, leaning against him. She heard his voice again. "I'm sorry."

"Wha-"

She felt something searing hot press against her back, and a wave of pain crashed into her. Harp let out a strangled scream, shoving against him. He barely budged. The pain deepened as the painfully hot blade carved deeper down her back. It was almost at her waist when Harp managed to shift into her ghost form, falling through the floor and landing on the ground of some kind of warehouse. The pain was worse as the Ghost.

With a pained gasp, she shifted back to her physical form, her shaking hand reaching into her bag and pulling out her phone. She misdialed her friend's number twice before she got the correct combination. She held her phone up to her ear, a whimper escaping her as she shifted in place. A moment later, her friend's cheery voice greeted her. "Hey Harp!"

"Z...."

Her friend seemed to sense something was very wrong, and her tone shifted from happy to panicked and worried. "Harp?? Harp, where are you?"

Eyes burning with tears, Harp whispered the address to Z. She could hear Z rummaging around, but that was quickly replaced with a ringing in her ears. Z was saying something, but Harp couldn't tell what. The world was slowly going dark around her. She was so, so tired...

The phone slipped from Harp's hand and clattered to the ground.