Hello readers! It's been far too long and I'm very sorry for the wait :(

This chapter hasn't been edited and it came out of my head randomly. It's not my best work so be prepared!

I hope you enjoy! :)

All rights go to RR

What Came Next

Even though Jason had only spent a week here at Camp Half-Blood, it was easy to see that the council meetings here were not known for their organization. This particular meeting was no exception. Even with the severity of the situation, pencils still found their way into Clovis' nose and hot chocolate was still being spilled with Clarisse's fists pounding the table.

"I'd love to see how much of a smartass you still are with a spear up your-"

"Clarisse, that's enough!"

"Shut up, Solace! You're not a part of this!" More shouting occurred until it all blurred together like white noise. Cramming this many campers into one break room always proved chaotic; even with a missing camper on everyone's minds. It was the second war council of the month and Jason wondered if it would top the first. Of course, dropping the bomb about their beloved camper was cross-country with a bunch of blood-thirsty romans would be tough to beat, Jason was hopeful.

"You Stolls just think you're so clever with all of your pranks! I'll show you clever when I-"

"They're coming! Quiet!" Will Solace's harsh whisper hushed the entire room all at once. Everyone was eerily quiet aside from the soft snores from the Hypnos Cabin. Butch's hand was frozen in the air with a pencil posed right underneath Clovis' nose.

Jason watched as the campers held their breath as three figures entered the room. Chiron entered first and took his place at the head of the ping pong table looking tired and ashen. Annabeth Chase followed with a satyr in tow. Though her hair hung limp around her shoulders and her clothes hadn't be changed in days; her eyes still had the odd ferocity of a thousand fires lit behind them. She was stunningly beautiful in an intimidating way that could hush an entire crowd of people with one look. It wasn't like Jason was into her or anything- Gods know how well that would go over- but when a girl was beautiful he noticed; In an observation type of way. He ducked his head and blushed fiercely at the table; ashamed to meet her eyes because he feared she could hear him thinking those thoughts and he did not feel like getting sliced open tonight thankyouverymuch

Jason was aware that in less war-like and less boyfriend-kidnapping-situations, Annabeth was actually a nice girl to hang out with. 'Way less scary' according to Travis Stoll. Even with that information, it was hard to place that kind of description to the Annabeth he met here. She had this fiery determination to find her boyfriend that would be super admirable if he didn't fear for his life every time he was alone with her. It wasn't like they were mortal enemies or anything, but there was always the big elephant in the room when he was alone with the daughter of Min-Athena. The whole 'I'm-your-missing-boyfriend's-replacement' was a tough hurdle to get over. And every time their eyes met he could see the gears turning in hers. He knew whom she was wishing was here instead of him and that scared him a bit but annoyed him a hell of a lot more. It wasn't like this whole thing was his idea or anything. He was just as much of a victim in this big fat stinking mess as her little boyfriend. And he knows that she knows this- or should realize this at least.

Piper, sitting next to him, pulled out a chair for Annabeth and she shared a tight-lipped smile with her before sitting down. Jason dug his foot into his chair in annoyance. He was happy Piper was making new friends here and everything, but it pissed him off how Annabeth was all friendly with her and still acted like Jason was gum on the bottom of her shoe. Like it was Jason's fault Percy Jackson was missing.

A loud sniffle interrupted Leo from his thoughts. The satyr, Grover was his name, slumped down in the chair next to Annabeth.

"Piper, Leo, Jason- Meet Grover."Annabeth tried to sound upbeat but failed miserably. Jason waved lamely as the satyr gave him a watery smile. "We're just waiting on Thalia now. She said she would be a little late."

Hearing this, Jason perked up a bit. He was excited to see his sister, no matter the consequences. But hey- over a decade of separation will do that to you!

"Uhm…So I'm guessing the lovely hunters will also be coming? Yes? No? Possibly?" Leo asked, and Jason couldn't help but smile at his friends non stop female obsession.

"Yes. But they will only be here a night or two. And there will be no capture the flag game this time, unfortunately." Chiron's words caused various moans and groans from the campers and a new round of ruckus started.

"Given the current circumstances a stupid game of capture the flag seems a little senseless, don't you think?" Annabeth's voice cut through the room like a knife and the campers settled down considerably; shifting in their chairs like guilty students being scolded.

"Couldn't win without Jackson anyways." Connor murmured, which caused the satry beside Annabeth to very suddenly and very loudly burst into tears.

"Is it t-t-true? Is he really g-g-one?" He stuttered as Annabeth rubbed his back soothingly.

"You haven't told him yet, Annabeth?" Asked Clarisse.

"I wanted him and Thalia here in person. It's not the type of conversation you have over IM." Clarisse nodded as if it were an appropriate answer just as Grover wailed again.

"I'm not even in the room yet and there's already tears. I guess I knew it wouldn't be good news when a war council is called. Can't say I'm surprised, though. Good ol' Kelp Head sure did know how to make things interesting around here." Thalia stood in the doorframe, leaning casually against one of the sides. "Sorry I'm late," She crossed to room in two long strides to embrace Annabeth and Grover. "We got a little held up by a dragon with a toothache."

"Thalia!" Jason stood up to cross the room and embrace his sister. His arms squeezed her before letting go. It was still a little awkward between them. They had a lot of lost time to make up and sometimes they still didn't know how to quite act around each other.

Thalia was greeted from all corners of the room with various levels of enthusiasm. Everyone was, of course, happy to see her; but wished it was under happier, less life-threatening circumstances.

"I believe that with everyone in attendance; we can begin." Chiron's deep voice covered the room like a cold front. Every camper, even Clovis with a nudge from Butch, sat alert and tense. "Annabeth, my dear, do you wish to start?"

The blonde teen took a deep, shaky breath before nodding at Chiron. Jason listened as Annabeth retold the events that occurred in the past week. He had to admire the way her voice was strong and even throughout the whole speech, and only wavered an octave when speaking about her MIA boyfriend.

Jason watched his sister's face, too. He noticed her nodding at all the right parts but also wincing and nawing at her lip when the Roman Camp and the whole exchange was explained. It was then that Jason realized his sister cared for this Jackson kid, a lot more than he originally thought.

"So you're saying Hera whipped his memory…and just dropped him off at a camp filled with war-crazed Romans?"

"Er…yes, child, that is the idea." Chiron responded over Grover's teary sobs.

"After leading an army into Manhatten to defend Olympus-thinking he was walking into his own funeral the entire time-the Gods reward him with another quest? Is this some kind of joke?" Her shoulders shook with anger and disbelief. The other campers watched warily out of the corners of their eyes.

"I'm afraid it is not, Thalia."
"He didn't…he didn't even get to say goodbye? To anyone?" She turned her gaze over to Annabeth.

"No. No he didn't get to say goodbye." She whispered. The other campers shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"From what we know," Chiron glanced at Jason, "Percy knew little about his fate. We believe he was not aware of the exchange, that Hera made the decision for him as many Gods do."

Jason felt the gazes of the campers turn to him and was pressured to speak. "Yeah, I uh-I didn't know about the whole thing. Or at least I don't remember…I guess that doesn't really help though," He stammered slightly and winced. Here he was, the new 'leader' of this camp and he was sounding like an idiot. Some impression he was making. He looked up to see Piper giving him an encouraging smile, and he found the courage to stand up a little straighter. "I can't remember that far back, but it doesn't really sound like the thing you would volunteer for."

The campers all murmered in agreement. Their voices weaved together like a soft hum while Jason's mind drifted elsewhere. Clarisse surprised everyone when she spoke up; so softly Jason wasn't even sure he had heard her correctly.

"Percy would have." She mumbled, looking at her hands in her lap.

"What?" Grover croaked.

Clarisse cleared her throat and sat up firmly. "Percy would have volunteered." She looked up, glaring at anyone that would meet her gaze. The room fell into an awkward silence and Jason felt uncomfortable. It had become somewhat of an unspoken rule at camp not to mention their missing camper. Council meetings were usually all business and fair game to drop 'Percy Jackson,' but small talk like this? Never.

Everyone was scared and everyone feared for Percy and the upcoming war, so bringing him up just brought worry and stress over the camp. Not to mention the glare you would get from Annabeth. It was weird. I mean, it was clear that the campers all adored their leader. The people that would tell Jason about him always spoke of him with this awed admiration about how much he had accomplished yet how friendly and humble he was. It made Jason want to get to know this guy but also nervous thinking about the shoes he had to fill. The more people talked about him the sadder it became; so everyone just…stopped talking.

So you can imagine the tension when Clarisse of all people brought him up. Everyone gawked at Clarisse; even Clovis was awake and alert.

"What? You guys can't see it?" She waited, but of course no answer came. She rolled her eyes and slapped her hands on the table like she was talking to a handful of toddlers. "Oh cmon, it's a total Jackson move. He always cared too much for his own good." Clarisse leaned forward as if to tell an intriguing story. "Hera drops in, all she has to say is 'it's for the good of the camp' or that 'someone else would take your place if you flake' and he'd be all in." Her shoulders began to shake with silent laughter. "You've got to admit it. That crazy son of a bitch was always pulling stunts like that!"

The silence that followed soon turned into nervous giggles from across the room. Jason saw Thalia's smirk from across the room. The Stoll twins snorted and quickly covered their mouths, fearing Annabeth's reaction. However, after seeing the small smile creep its way across her face, their laughs were louder than ever. Soon, to Jason's amazement, the whole room was shaking with laughter. He caught Piper and Leo's gaze and was relieved to see he was not the only one feeling completely and utterly confused. Weren't they suppose to be mourning for their leader, not laughing?

"Do you guys remember-" Travis paused to laugh-"before he even got to camp-how he-"

"Took out the minotaur with his bare hands?!" His twin finished his sentence for him. "Without one lesson. He was mad pissed when that beast took his mom. That was insane! I totally forgot about that!"

See- these were the moments when Jason felt like a total fish out of water. He hadn't been included in any of these inside jokes or phrases and therefore felt like a total outsider. Not only that- but holy Zeus- slaying a minotaur without a lesson? He met Leo and Piper's eyes and was relieved to see their mouths hanging slightly open too.

"And he took on that quest like it was no big deal. Totally hell-bent on getting his mom back. Classic." Will nodded in admiration.

"He always was a mamma's boy." Thalia stated causing laughter to erupt. Annabeth threw her head back and giggled. It was such a light sound coming from her mouth, nothing like the stern and hard voice he normally heard from her. Jason was surprised to see his sister had leaned back in her chair with her boots plopped on the tabletop-the picture of ease. Looking around he could see that the other campers were also relaxing their tense stances. Even Chiron had a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth..

"Oh and let's not forget when our lover boy sneaked out of camp on a rogue misson to rescue the lovely damsel in distress, Annabeth." Connor crooned from the back of the room.

"Shut up, Stoll." Annabeth's voice was cold but she was smiling.

More talk about the Hero surfaced. Jason heard crazy stories about Medusa, an exploding volcano (Which Leo found hilarious) and a river in the underworld. The stories made his stomach churn with envy and a gruff feeling of admiration. Eventually the converstation hit a lull and the silence crept back into the room.

For the first time in the last hour- Jason spoke. "Damn. Seems like Percy really went to the mat for everyone. This war and the last. Dude can't catch a break." The campers murmered in agreement- the helpless feeling was climbing up all of their spines. What happened to Percy wasn't fair-they all knew it.

"Well." Thalia leaned in and laced her fingers together. "It's a good thing that Seaweed Brain has such loyal friends, isn't it?"

"I guess-I guess it's our turn to save his ass." Grover chuckled.

"Sure is." Annabeth agreed. The haunted look was back in her eyes.

"Alrighty then! So what's our game plan?" Thalia asked.

. The meeting finished with Annabeth and Leo talking statistics and deadlines for the Argo II. Jason chimmed in when needed but felt himself zoning out for most of the tail end of the meeting. His thoughts were consumed with Medusas, Kronos, Mintaurs stealing mothers and trying to figure out how someone could have seaweed for brains.

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